Grudges
by screamingedge
Summary: Kendal Seycheyll has never been what you'd consider normal. In fact, he's what you'd call strange. But when Lloyd and co. crash in Tethe'Alla, this just might be his chance to repay back some grudges... Chapter 56 UP! OC Insert; Will be epic in length
1. The one who devastates

This is my first fanfic EVER. Please Rn'R cause I've got to see just how good my writing is… Hope you like it!

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The boy looked strange, even to a man who had seen the varieties of almost all of Tethe' Alla's fashions, but none were like this. Even stranger was the fact that the boy who wore them was no more than 18 at best, with no trace of a beard, or any facial hair, with a headband on his forehead.

The nameless soldier observed the almost 8-foot long scarf flutter in what little breezes there were on this day, even with Sybak's proximity to the ocean. Well, it looked about the same height as the boy did- about 6 feet- but most likely it was from how the middle of the scarf was wrapped around the neck. A.K.A- minus 2 feet.

The boy wore a brown shirt, with frayed edges. One of the trails of the scarf he wore was wrapped around his right hand, the thickest part of the bundle around his right hand, like a sling. His left hand was gloved, but only the palm area was; It was as if the gloves appendages of cloth had been slashed off, considering the rugged edges around the fingers.

The soldier stepped forward. "You, who has been known as the 'Ravager', is under arrest under orders from the Pope of the Church of Martel and have been passed to this unit of Papal Knights. Now, come with us."

The entire company of the green-armored men stepped forward. The man who had announced it, the commander, took a position in the center of the human wall.

"Now."

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Okay, this hadn't been my plan when I had gone into Sybak. I was supposed to have had some time to relax and chill from my recent spree of crime, which included the whole like. 

Including, of course, when I say the whole like, murder.

Somehow, I knew that somebody had used very advance technology to follow me. I wondered if it could be-

The commander, growing irritated, snapped "Hurry up, scum!"

I didn't bother retorting to the low-slang style insult, choosing instead to ask something. "First, just how the hell didja manage to find me," I asked.

A guy stepped out from behind the front line; Wearing red clothes and with a covered mouth, it was instantly obvious. A person from Mizuho had tracked me. And since people from Mizuho used Guardians…

I plucked something off my back, hoping what I was suspecting was true. It was. When I looked at my hand, I was holding a card of paper, with symbols around it, but the main feature was a lightly etched picture of a bird.

I threw the seal at the red-clothed man. "Bastard," I said simply. He made no reply, but caught it.

The guy in charge turned. "You don't need to help anymore here. We'll take him by ourselves." The ninja nodded, and vanished in a puff of gray smoke.

I raised an eyebrow. "You know you're an idiot to have sent him off, you know?"

"How so?" He replied, the trace of anger obvious in his voice.

"Simple. You think I'd go down without a fight? You're going to need all the manpower you've got." To prove it…

I twirled my cleaver, enhanced with a diamond edge out of its sheath on my back, then I brought it down on the ground, jarring my hand slightly, a perfect 90 degree angle from the direction I was facing, in this case the Papal Knights.

"Get him!" Yelled the guy in charge.

They rushed forward en masse. Perfect.

I ran forward as well, but instead of stabbing anyone, which would have gotten me stabbed in return, perhaps fatally, I jumped, head first over the crowd of pikemen. But I didn't clear it without spinning in midair, cleanly hacking a head off. I spun a few more times around in the air, then landed perfectly on my feet, facing the now thoroughly intimidated crowd.

I only grinned before unwrapping my covered right hand. I slowly unwounded my scarf around my hand, and when they saw it…

They all gasped. Or, atleast I heard them do that. Maybe it was the wind. But what regular person wouldn't be intimidated by an unblemished gauntlet of steel, with rubies set on its top and a line of sapphire that mimicked the eyes of a dragon, perhaps a demon? It helped to have jagged edges on the knuckles.

I attacked.

I became a literal tornado, thanks to the fact I had called on wind magic to help with the spin. I felt flecks of blood splatter my face as I spun around fast with my eyes closed. So I wouldn't see organs hit the ground with splats and such. So far, nothing but blood had hit me thanks to the wind magic, but who knew…

My spinning excursion ended quite suddenly when smashed into a wall. Not even a diamond edged and reinforced blade of titanium can cut through 5 feet of brick and cement. Well, perhaps I could, with stronger spin power and wind magic, but I doubt I could hold on to the cleaver long enough to plow though it. Besides, I'd be dizzy WAY too long to actually fight for around 10 seconds; after all, you don't exactly need 10 seconds to end a person's life. Ah well…

As my blade gritted and screeched its way to a stop, I shook the extremely small traces of dizziness on me and looked around. Out of an original force of what I had expected to be around 50, only some 30 remained it good condition to fight me. Oh well, guess I'd just slaughter them all. I crossed my forearms into a cross and closed my eyes, feeling the mana well up, and knelt down and shoved them into the cobbled square, opening my eyes, preparing to pulse my mana straight into the earth, for one of my specialties.

"Grave Wave!"

A wave of rock spikes blasted in all directions quickly, circular row by row. Now, students and other bystanders were having their share of death and pain as the walls of spikes ran through anybody and everybody. All victims hit got atleast 3 rows spikes in them. None who were hit survived.

I spotted the original commander who had called me scum considerable battered but alive, having gotten out of the instant-death zone (As I liked to call it, where the spike rows were the thickest) and only taken 1 single, but serious puncture wound to the femoral artery in the left leg. Which was bleeding like crazy, as the shattered cobblestones was drenched in the dark red liquid. Okay, so one guy who was hit managed to survive. This was rare, though. As the spikes receded as quickly as they had appeared, I calmly walked over. He looked up, allowing me to see the terror emanating straight through the stylishly curved visor. It allowed me to see the reflection of my eyes, gold in color, cold, with a coolness radiating from them. Without a word, I dropped an Apple Gel by his side, and began walking away from the semi-ruined inn and terrified eyes of students caught in the crossfire. Over my shoulder, I spoke.

"Make sure you tell your idiot pope that a kid named Kendal Seycheyll sends his regards and begs the poor bastard to keep his nose out of my business. Or, he'll become just like the soldiers that just tried to take me down at Sybak." I didn't look back.

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As before, please Read and Review. Or else Kendal might kill me in his utter boredom… (screams) 


	2. Crash Landing

Now, I'm starting to redo the normal storyline- A.K.A., I'm beginning to novelize everything beginning from the crash landing in the Fooji Mountains. Heh heh...

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"Yaaaahhhhh!!!!!" yelled Lloyd as the Rheaird he was riding spiraled downward. 

He knew he couldn't stay on it. He'd have to jump at the last possible moment, or he'd get sent straight off the the peak they were heading towards, or he jumped now, even his Exsphere enhanced body wouldn't be able to take the shock- He'd break a bone.

At _least._

Time seemed to slow down as they approached the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sheena, Genis, and Raine tense as well. He focused on the rapidly approaching earth…

He jumped. Not a moment too soon or late; any higher, he could have broken a bone, any lower, he would have smashed into the mountain along with his Rheaird; for it's fate, it was nicely stuck in the rock of the peak, smoking.

Landing cleanly on his feet, he looked around. Genis had tripped, Raine had fallen over, Sheena was okay, but Colette…

_Colette!_ He thought franticly and looked around. The girl in question was just behind them, her wings out. He heaved a sigh that the soulless girl was alright, and turned to speak to the others. "Everybody okay?"

"Y-yeah…" Genis mumbled as he got up significantly battered on his left kneecaps. Raine immediately ran over and fussed over him, just like when he had tripped- again- in Triet. He couldn't watch, so he headed over to Sheena, where she was sticking some of her seals on each Rheaird.

"You know where the heck we are?" he asked. "Yeah, the Fooji Mountains. I was here before for training. Climbing, you know?" she said absentmindedly.

"Is there a city around here?" he asked curiously. "Yeah, Meltokio, the capital of Tethe'alla" she muttered, dusting her hands off after her task with attaching the pieces of paper she used to fight to the Rheairds. Well, he hadn't know she had a whole bunch of extras, but...

Lloyd looked over at the others. Colette was just standing there, soulless as always; Raine had finally given Genis a break from lectures about the surrounding dust enough to patch him up (even though he hadn't really needed any help, considering the lightness of the scratch), and Sheena was now inspecting her job of doing… whatever she was doing with the seals. "C'mon everybody, lets get down here," he called. Colette wordlessly walked over, while Genis ran and hid behind Lloyd, to get away from his sister, of course.

Lloyd sighed. "Are you guys ready or not?" Sheena for the matter instantly (More out of instinct than mentality, he suspected) said "I am." "As long as you can get me away from her, I am" Genis muttered. Raine said, brightly "So am I."

"Good," Lloyd sighed. Darn it, why did this group have to be so ragtag? Sheesh… He began to walk down the trail, as per Sheena's guidance. All while keeping Raine from Genis.

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Hopefully, you've got where in time I'm starting this fanfic from, right? Hopefully... (Sweatdrop) 


	3. A detour and some bandits

Now, back to the main event, peeps! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

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I made my way out of the Sybak area easily. Seems that idiot commander sent in every guy at his disposal, so he had left nobody to guard the area around Sybak, in case I got out. Personally, I was disappointed- To me, having no patrols to take out was like having dinner with no dessert. I kill 50 people. Okay. So, why not kill a bit more to end the day? Urg.

Now, where to next?

I guessed a big city might be fine, even if it meant heading across the Tethe'Alla Grand Bridge. In other words, Melkitio. Gah, why didn't they just make an EC Ferry service to get across? A bridge that size…. Hell, that would cause some damn big headaches, muscle strain, and anything related to physical and mental exhaustion. Bah. Okay, not me- That bridge was nothing. I could run across half the length from Sybak to Flanoir without stopping for breath.

I'm not kidding, especially, when you consider that I've got the rarest type of Exsphere embedded in my left arm, right next to my most vital artery in my body. And, I'm of a much different breed than ANYONE on Tethe'Alla.

Or Sylvarant, cause I'm really the last one of my race-

A cackle of laughter cut off my thoughts as I was walking. Without even looking up, I knew who they were. Bandits. Oh, woe, why me. Yeah right. I was really about to jump for joy because I realized THIS was going to be my desert to a god day of death. Quaint. I lost my train of thought with that bit of laughter, so I was also slightly annoyed. Oh well, it wasn't even supposed to matter, for what I remembered of my thoughts.

I looked around, and spotted some Sorceresses, Rouges, and Rangers, all waiting. Yes, definitely bandits. Since it was already night….

A Rouge stepped forward. _Must be the leader. Humph, looks more like a living bundle of rags,_ I thought sarcastically. "Hand over yer loot an' that nice lookin' sword there, an' we won' do no harm to ya." He stepped closer. "Or else, chum."

I didn't bother pointing out the double negative- considering his speech, he had as much common language understanding as a wall. Albeit a crumbling one. So, I just gave a few syllables of blatant defiance.

"Hell to the no."

I saw with satisfaction that the Rouge's eyes were flashing with ugly, untamed rage. He leaned in closer. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, punk?" He said it through gritted teeth.

My reply: "You're the punk, stupid punk."

As expected, he went totally berserk and tried to hack my head off with his scythes. I hacked off his head first, though. Too bad. First blood.

The area just outside Sybak imploded with twangs, yells, screams, and rumbling as spells flew and were dodged, arrows struck the ground but not their intended targets, and heads were loped off, easy as hacking an apple into 2 if you brought a broadsword down with all your might. All the while, a figure, which looked from a distance a human with 2 tails, (Albeit in reality 2 _scarf_ tails) was jumping around swinging something blurring. Namely, a sword.

The sun was well down when I had slaughtered every last one of the bandits. Okay, it had been sunset when I had first encountered them, but… It took me an our to track down and kill very survivor from the original onslaught. Sheesh...

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Lloyd FINALLY made it down the Fooji mountains, but not before a mini rockslide forced them to make a 2 hour detour- That stretched _everyone's _patience. Well, not Colette's, but still, if she had a soul… 

It had been already sunset when the rockslide had been set off (Thanks to a certain 4 foot tall half-elf) but now it was total darkness. With a sigh, completely worn out from trekking down (And of course, crashing), he set up camp without a word. They all pitched in; he could see from how their faces were that they were completely worn out, same as himself. Nobody volouteered for night watch. It was hard to blame them, considering the detour, caused by a rockslide which happened right under their feet while making their ways down. All of them were instantly swallowed by the inviting arms of sleep.


	4. An abnormal crossing

After a quiet, uneventful night, I looted the pockets of the bandits (As revenge) and headed off to the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge. Unfortunately….

The draw bridge was starting to raise when I was about to step on the main part, and therefore prevent me from crossing.

Yeah. Like hell that would happen. Since when did a raising bridge ever stop me?

I blew into a full blown sprint past the row of guards. One of them yelled "Hey you! Stop! This bridge is closing-" He didn't get to finish the sentence. Without stopping, I did a perfect body check that sent him sprawling. It didn't help him that I trampled him in my rush.

As the bridge moaned from its stress as the center of its gravity began punishing the middle parts of both sides of the now-broken-in-2 bridge, I flew, literally, across to the break. By then, it was 90 percent vertical and my footholds were slipping, but like I said earlier, what did I care?

I jammed both of my climbing knives into the now-almost-perfectly-vertical bridge. They stopped me from slipping, and, as it continued to rumble, I scrabbled up till I reached the top. By now, both sides were perfectly vertical. There was a literal mile separating me from the other side.

Cool.

I tensed my legs to the point where they were aching like hell, and…

Leaped.

I sailed through the air, my body lashing forward and back, my arms flailing, gaining momentum-

I slammed into the bottom of the bridge. Not wasting any time in case my the knives lost their grip, I scrabbled up this side and got onto the (also) vertical top of the side of the bridge before going into free fall down to solid ground, gracefully flipping and landing on my feet. I looked up. Some people, a few guards, and others were staring at me in open mouthed shock. I put my knives back into their holsters, and walked on to Melkitio. Attention never felt any better.

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Sorry this one's so short, I stumbled onto writer's block a bit before I did this one. Ehe he...  



	5. Arrivals

This chapter is all Lloyd-and-co., so don't think I've abandoned them. Oh wait, it's not ALL Lloyd-and-co, it's that way 95 percent of the time…

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As Lloyd was entering Meltokio, in the morning (after some hustling), Sheena stopped. Give his exosphere-enhanced ears, it noticed that instead of 4 pairs of footsteps around him, there was only 3… 

As he gripped Colette's hand to stop her (He'd bet she'd ram into somebody or something sooner or later unstopped) he looked behind him. "Sheena?" He questioned. "Why aren't you going…?"

"I've got to report my failiure to the chief in Mizuho." "You come from Mizuho, right?" Asked Genis. "Yeah, and I've got to return to there to report the failiure."

"So you're leaving?" Lloyd asked, slightly shocked. Couldn't she just send a letter/messenger…? She had been part of the group so long, it would be different to see her gone… (A/N: No, this is not a romance fanfic. Damn, don't you peeps know that Lloyd is oblivious?)

"Er… yeah…" She mumbled, blushing slightly. Lloyd wondered why she had blushed for a moment, but was interrupted by the girl in question, who had just thrusted out a letter. "Tell the king at Tethe'Alla Castle that this is from Sheena from Mizuho. He'll grant you an audience with you rightaway." She kicked the concrete nervously. "Well, I guess it's goodbye now-"

"No, it's not." Sheena looked up at Raine in confusion, but the unspoken question was instantly answered. "We just might see you again, so it's not goodbye yet. So…"

Lloyd completed the phrase. "See you later."

They watched as she began walking away, but not before she had said her own "See you later."

Raine was the first one to pull out of watching Sheena go. "So, now shall we go to the castle?" The spell of Sheena's departure instantly lifted, they all (save Colette) said "Yeah."

As they headed towards the set of huge stairs the divided the city into sections, a dog happened to stumble (unluckily) into the path of the now-soulless Colette. She kicked it aside. She didn't even turn to face it when it approached her to her left- She just jerked her leg in that direction, and the dog flew, sprawling on the hard, unforgiving pavement.

"And she used to love dogs!" Lloyd exploded. "Damn that Cruxis organization!"

At that moment, a short man in red glasses came down from the top of the stairs. Dressed in green, overlapping robes and purple hair, he just came down in time to see Colette's flying dog act. "Heh heh," he crackled, "What a violent young lady there." He continued walking, right out of Meltokio.

Everyone (who had a soul, that is) looked back the man. "Who was that guy…?" Genis asked. Raine shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Let's meet with the king."

_**Earlier**_

As nighttime floated into Tethe'Alla, I made my way into the slums. They were the only true reliable place I could sleep- the rooftops were the best at avoiding capture- The soldier almost never go here, and the last time, I heard was 2 years ago. 5 years earlier from then, I saw them entering, but they didn't make their search through- They just took a general view and left, without checking where I was. Maybe it was because they hated looking at the stench and sights of poverty. I don't know.


	6. First sights, part one

(Groans) I might be a student, and this might be summer, but the classes I have to go to… urg. I won't be uploading anything for a few days, thanks to a nonstop stream of classes/murderous teachers…

On a second note, this is the first chapter that won't be told through Lloyd's view concerning the main group. (A.K.A.- A kid with a super-weird hairdo)

Morning. I woke up at around when the sun was only beginning to peek over the horizon, which happened to be late for me; I usually woke when the sky only showed tints of gray penetrating the stars and blackness of night. Oh well, I spent only an hour, around that sleeping. Maybe 2… yeah, 3. That's nice, I came around midnight, or perhaps 3. I had a lot of work to do- Rip down the wanted posters, then jubilate, and head over to a random place or something. Yeah, that would be nice.

_**Continuing what happened in chapter 4**_

Once Genis and the others had stopped marveling at what was to be seen at the bottom level of Meltokio, they climbed up the stairs. There, Raine and Lloyd looked around in wonder, too much at a loss of words to say anything, but…

Colette didn't. She had no heart, and therefore no feelings. So, she kept going. I was too busy looking around to see that her wings had popped out, nor that she had walked all the way to the foot of the next set of stairs, straight into a gang of-

Girls led by an absolutely ridiculous looking long haired/red-headed adult.

"Ohhh!!! Look at the audacity of this girl, she's dressed up in an angel costume and it's not even festival time!"

Meanwhile, the redhead was continuing in his own attempts to get… close with Colette. "Come here, my little angel!" he crowed, and grabbed her left arm.

She didn't even move her upper body. She just flicked the arm over her head, and sent him flying.

"Woah!" yelped the offending redhead as he flew through the air.

"Ahhhh!!! Master Zelos!" The girl that had spoken originally screamed. Albeit an ugly girl. Actually all ugly girls.

They didn't exactly have to fear anything- The man in question flipped over in midair, and land easily onto his feet.

Genis and Lloyd both yelped "Woah!?" As the guy walked forward. "I was caught off guard there, my little angel!" He smiled at the unresponsive Colette in such a sick way it made Genis nauseous. Just then, Lloyd asked "What's your name?"

The guy responded in a way reminecent of Lloyd "Give me your name and I'll give you mine." "Isn't it the other way around usually?" Genis sniggered. "Shut it, Genis!" Growled Lloyd.

The redheaded mysterious man replied, oblivious to the short exchange between the 2 boys, and said "Sorry, but I'm not interested in talking to guys."

That was before he saw Raine.

Instantly he started up his antics again. "Ohh!! And who is this glamorous beauty?"

He didn't get to continue. The crowd of girls immediately called out. "Master Zelos! Are you coming?" "Yes, yes, alright, my cute little hunnies." Genis almost gagged hearing that. As soon as they were out of earshot, he exploded. "Did you see him!? He was acting like such an ass! He was saying those disgusting bits of-"

He might have gone further had Raine not interjected. "He was wearing an Exsphere."

Both boys yelped simultaneously. "What!?"

_**Around noon…**_

I noticed a pretty weird gang of people head over to a castle. 2 of them had identical colors of white hair, which meant they were most likely kin (Not very suggestible, since the girl was twice the height as the kid), one of them had red clothes that stood out easily in a crowd (it didn't help for him to have 2 swords) and one of them just walked jerkily along. Heading over to the castle was strange enough by itself, with the king ill, but in a group like that…? I didn't bother getting a closer look- They had already approached the castle gates. I didn't care to look at them longer. I headed over to the west side of Meltokio, keeping a low profile while keeping my scarf- Well, the tails of it- inside the back of my shift, hoping desperatly nobody noticed the bulge in my back. They might think I was a hunchback, I figured, so I stooped low. Wow, how dumb people were these days- They jsut passed me with looks of revultion. I resisted the urg to give them a good stab to the ribs, that would _not_ be a good decision, especially now I was in my enemy's turf...

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Sorry if I messed up along the lines of the dialouge, I can't remember it all! (Holds off angry readers with sword) 

If you haven't noticed yet, anytime I switch to third-person view, then it means I following any of the characters, and when I'm in FPS Kendal's telling it. Just a reminder!


	7. First sights, part 2

Crap, I forgot the disclaimer. Oh well, I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Lloyd Ivring, Genis Sage, Sheena Fujibayashi, Raine Sage, or Colette Brunell. I only own Kendal.

Kendal: I'm not your slave!

Me: Yes you are.

Kendal: O RLY? (crunching sound)

Me: Gaahhh… I take that back! But I still own you... SOMEBODY SAVE ME!!!!

And yeeeesssss, a review! Finally! But GRAMMAR ERRORS? ARE YOU MICROSOFT WORD, RYNA-CHAN???

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"In the name of the Goddess, how long are we going to wait here?" Lloyd grumbled. He got no answer from Genis, too busy staring at Presea to bother- Presea didn't even acknowledge that Lloyd had spoken, unlike Genis, who mumbled a very embarrassed "Uh huh"- Colette, soulless as always was unresponsive as ever, so that only left Raine… 

"We can't know for sure- For all I know, they might be planning to kill us."

"Whaaat!?" Lloyd yelped. "It's true. We're from the dying world, and one of us could cause this world to lose its flourishing status at any time." Raine looked sadly at Colette.

Genis had ripped himself out of love-struck mode and said agatiedly "But if that happens, what'll happen to Presea here?"

"I want to go home," was her reply. Albeit emotionlessly.

_**Earlier…**_

They had managed to walk into the castle gates, thanks to Presea's aid, even though she happened to be unresponsive. Now, they were in the prayer room…

They stepped in nervously, and everyone- The guards, the king, a young girl with a crown on, who Lloyd supposed was a princess or queen, and a man in royalty-style robes with a staff- gave them their full, undividing attention.

_**Now…**_

Lloyd swore under her breath. "Man, they told us to wait here, but they're just leaving us alone or something!?"

What happened next couldn't have proved his words more wrong.

Just then, the door in the waiting room opened, and in came the Pope with 2 soldiers. And a red-head. A familiar one at best…

"Hey, you're the ones that I saw with my cute hunnies earlier!" he said with a note of surprise in his voice. "Who're you?" Everyone minus 2 certain emotionless girls choroused. "Oh, my reputation hasn't spread that far? I'll have to work on it, I suppose. I am the great Zelos Wilder, the Chosen of Tethe'Alla."

"This guy's the Chosen?" Genis muttered to Lloyd. "He's an idiot."

Before Lloyd could chuckle, Zelos spoke, rather miffled. "I heard that, little brat!" Before he could perform mass murder, however, the Pope spoke up.

"I have conferred with the king concerning this matter" he said regally. "However, because you come from the dying world, I cannot help you. None of Tethe'Alla's citizens would want this era of prosperity to end, I assure you. Guards! Take the them away."

"No!" Lloyd yelled. "Colette's lost her soul, can't you?!-" "I don't want to hear it! Take them!" As soon as the guards reached Colette, though, she grabbed them and easily sent them straight into the red-decked wall. "Ugh!" One of them yelped. "No one can touch that… that… that demon…!!!"

"Arrgh!" The Pope growled. "Why is she-!? How!?"

"Hey, old geezer, why don't you leave this too me?" A voice came unexpectedly.

Everyone looked for the source of the voices, even Presea and Colette. As it turned out…

"Chosen!" the Pope cried. "What are you saying?" "I'm saying, since that they can't go back to Sylvarant-"

"Yeah, the Rheairds we have are out of fuel. We've got nowhere to go, unless you count Tethe'Alla" Lloyd interjected. "See?" Said Zelos brightly, gesturing to make his point. "They can't go back to Sylvarant, so they can't carry out their own journey of Regeneration!" "Well, actually, we have, but… Colette never finished the ritual at our world's Tower of Salvation, so she has not become a true angel yet. So, our world is still deprived for the most part of mana" Raine said helpfully.

"I'll just keep tabs on them, and if they even think about straying from some other objective in this world, then I'll just snitch on them. This is just for restoring my lovely angel her soul, kay?" Zelos fluttered his eyebrows and grinned at Colette. Resisting the urg to look to his left and laugh, considering that Genis was most likely imitating throwing up at the flirtations of Zelos, Lloyd decided to cement the deal. "We won't do anything but restore Colette her soul" he said earnestly, hoping to win over the Pope guy.

Finally, the pope spoke. "Alright, but first, should this girl be restored her soul, would Sylvarant not fall prey to destrection? Do you not care for your own world?"

Raine answered immediately. "No, we don't."

Her brother reacted with shock. "Raine! Are you serious?!" "Yes," she replied coldly. "We have to focus on saving Colette first, and not get distracted from that goal just because the people of Sylvarant are suffering."

Lloyd had to agree. "She's right, I've gotta say for once, Genis. And besides, if she did complete the ritual…"

He didn't need to say say more- Genis knew what would happen. But it seemed so cruel…

As the Pope left, Zelos spoke. "Why don't you guys and the gourgeous me meet up in the Martel Cathedral? I'll be waiting." He left with a wink at Raine.

Genis gagged, again, the second time in a day.

After meeting up with Zelos (who in the cathedral had called Raine, Presea, and Colette "gourgeous" no more than 3 times apiece) they went on a tour. And, unfortunately, since Zelos was the only one who knew Meltokio at all, they had to follow him, while he flirted around and such.

They were finally fed up with him after around 10…_ impromptu_ stops. Finally, everyone with a soul, except Presea, even Raine, lost their patience. "ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE US A TOUR OR NOT, YOU STUPID CHOSEN?" they roared simultaneously. "Woah, woah!" he said in the midst of blowing a kiss to a random, madly blushing hapless girl passing by, shocked.

"WELL? THEN STOP TRYING TO HIT ON EVERY GIRL YOU MEET-"

"YOU DUMBASS!" Genis added the last part.

"BASTARDLY BRAT!"

It sure was something, watching Zelos get literally murdered with the superior intellect and vocabulary of Genis, especially since Genis was about half Zelos's height. Lloyd even rolled on the pavement, laughing madly. Even Raine had to chuckle, unlike the the other girls. They didn't respond at all. Which was something for the spectators of the vocabulary match to stare as well as laugh at.

_**In a certain café, the west side of Meltokio**_

I looked on, amused at the reactions of the other occupants/customers as I walked in. Nobody had given me a second look on the street, but in this enclosed place…

I had learned it through years of shame and stage fright, mixed in with embarrassment. If you enter anywhere enclosed, 99 percent of the time, everyone gives you their attention, no matter how long their intrest holds. And this time, their intrest was holding a _loooooong_ time.

I tossed some gald on the bar as I walked up to it. "Some tea."

I didn't bother to mention the amount I had thrown on the counter- It was an amount I always threw on, about a hundred Gald- I was rich, literally from all the loot he nicked from dead people. A **LOT** of dead people. It happened to be that it was a around 80 more than the price on the board outside.

"Keep the change."

_**Near that location**_

"By the way, Zelos?" Lloyd said. "Yeah?" came the smooth answer.

"Where are we going to cure Colette?" He saw Zelos smack himself as if he had done something horrible. He couldn't have been farther from the truth. "I can't believe I forgot where to go to help by little angelic hunny! We're going to a place called Sybak. It's across the ocean, and it's a place of great academic learning. Plus…" "What?" Lloyd asked.

He shouldn't have. "It's full of beautiful smart hunnies!" Zelos exclaimed, his eyes turning into literal heart shapes. They all groaned, except Presea and Colette, of course. It was just then that he noticed a gaggle of armored soldiers outside an alley. "Hey Zelos," he said, trying to get him out of his rant about "beautiful smart hunnies," what's up with that shop over there?"

_**Inside**_

I heard I commotion outside just as I finished the cup of tea. I didn't need anybody looking out the window and mumbling in confusion "the Papal Knights?" to know who it was. Okay, somebody did mumble that, but…

I placed the empty teacup on the bar. The owner stared at me frightened, but I didn't return the stare. Who had the time? Who would, if they did, anyway? Besides, I could care less about these discriminating bastards than a puddle of water. More conviniently for the purposes of my thoughts, a puddle of slime.

I pushed the door open, and wha-la, what do you know, a crowd of Papal Knights is there on the otherside of the alleyway I'm in. There was only around 30 or so- Less than the ones at Sybak, which meant I'd have an easier time of ripping my way through them. How nice.

_**Very close near Kendal's exact location**_

"And who's that guy in the really huge brown scarf who also has one of its tails wrapped around his left hand?" "It's wrapped around his right, idiot, we just see a mirror image of himself, Lloyd." "Shut up, Genis!"


	8. Alley fight

Finally, another fight scene! Yay! (Kendal: W00T!) I'm not good at describing scenes, so R&R an tell me how good I was writing this. Oh, and 1 review? Only? (Feels unloved) Cruelty… sniff… Well, there's 2, but BOTH ARE BY THE SAME PERSON, AND SHE KEEPS RANTING ABOUT SPACES BETWEEN SPEAKING CHARACTERS! SCREW THE CONCEPT!

Damn, what's up with the stupid disclaimer? Okay, Kendal, you do it, I'm tired.

Kendal: Hell no!

Me: I own you, remember? I can delete the story AND you anytime I want.

Kendal:Biiiiiitch...

Me: (Abuses)

Kendal: Bastard! Fine, this idiot (Shoots dirty look) doesn't own Tales of Symphonia, or any of the characters, he only owns me and the plot.

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"Yo, bastards." 

I observed quite a few arms twitch as the impact of the word struck home. Another thing I was famous for- Pissing off almost anyone. Or anything, for that matter. Psychologically, or even physically. I was notorious for that.

I just might not be, if I didn't get the hell out of this situation…

Almost everything was stacked against me- It was an alley way, so no chance of spin-rushing them here, like in Sybak, unless I wanted to be stupid and risk his cleaver getting stuck in the wall; there was also a smaller chance of being able to dodge anything; I relied solely on my cleaver and guantlet and dodging to avoid damage- There were bystanders about; I had a clean anti-government reputation, which meant no killing bystanders or else, especially not the guy with chocolate brown eyes looking at me from about 30 yards away, through a gap in the human wall at the other side of the alley- And I was out numbered, obviously.

But the things in **my** favor were much bigger-I could climb up the walls to escape at any time with my climbing daggers, I could use long range magic if I had to, and since I had no armor, I had no chance of being obstructed by the walls of the alleyway. Well, the alleyway was large, but at the middle it was pretty narrow, allowing only one person through at a time. Where I was, there was a bashed up fountain that drunkenly emitted water in the small open area where I stood. They were just outside the alley. And the soldiers were pretty damn bulky, but I could easily rush through it.

Plus, I had diversionary tactics. Which involved horribly damaging the eardrums of certain people in green armor.

_**Behind the Papal Knights**_

Zelos did a double take. Lloyd knew why a second later.

"Wh-what the-!? It's- It's the Ravager! Oh god, I'd better get the hell out of here!" Lloyd didn't let him. As soon as Zelos stopped struggling, he saw through the gap where he had first seen the guy. The guy seemed to be speaking… And the soldiers were reacting rather angrily, twitching their arms. "What's that-" he look closer at the person in question in order to find a correct word to describe him "kid talking?"

Lloyd looked back to see everyone, including Zelos, stare at him with wide eyes. Raine was first to break the silence. "A… kid?" she muttered, roughly pushing him out of the way to look through the gap in the ranks. Just as Lloyd was about to object to the rough treatment she had given him, she looked up, looking absolutely stunned. "You're right…" she said wonderingly. "He is a kid…" "What!" Genis yelped. Then he laughed. "Zelos is scared of a kid, ha ha-" "I didn't know he was a kid, you brat!"

Lloyd looked again, closer. He saw that the… kid… look somewhere around his own age, 17 or 18. And 30 soldiers had to be summoned to take arrest him…?

_**Outside a café**_

"Disarm yourself and we will take you in gently. Resist, and face the-"

"Shut already, with the 'don't resist or face the consequences' crap, I'd rather go to hell than go in quietly, sons of bitches!"

"CLOSE YOUR MOUTH, SCUM-"

"OH, IS THAT ALL YOU CAN SAY? THEN HOW ABOUT YOU SCREW YOURSELF!"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!"

"I DARE TO SAY THAT, SO DEAL WITH IT!"

"GET HIIIIMMM!!!"

"FINALLY!"

I threw my sword straight in the body of the first guy who rushed me, right when he reached the narrowest point of the alley. Hard. Because my victim had slowed down to get through the narrow point, the others bunched against him, therefore letting the cleaver spear 3 instead of a single body. I rushed and ripped it out, kicking the bodies off it. They went backwards, knocking over another 3- I had pushed it, hard. I stabbed those knocked down in their chests, just under their chest bone, so atleast when they died, they wouldn't feel a thing. That's how it worked- Stab a person in their heart, and they just die. No pain. Something to do with the nervous system? I dunno, the heart's part of the circulatory.

6 down, around 25 to go. I cut down one as he was about to take a swing at me, knocked a pike out of some idiot-who-want-to-stab-me's hand, then threw my cleaver again. It meant I now had more, if only slightly improved mobility, at the cost of now have a chance of 2 peeps wising up and attacking me at the same time. That didn't happen. Until…

When I had polished off my 15th-in-total kill (I counted through all the carnage) 2 of them got ready to throw their spears at the same time at me. Okay, perhaps they were just doing it out of instinct (couldn't see any sign that they were giving each other signals for when to throw), but I was occupied with 3 of the Papal Knights, so…

I ripped out one of my climbing daggers, and, as both of those soldiers in the background were getting ready to throw the pikes, I slashed my cleaver with the broad sharp side of the semi-stiletto, albeit **much** sharper than any other stiletto or knife except its twin.

_SCCCCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!_

**VWVWVWVWV **

Lloyd roared "STOP!" as the screech was heard all over Meltokio. The others- Even Presea, but definitely not Colette, had their hands over their ears as well. Lloyd had to screw his eyes shut in order to get the sound out of his head…Since I had slashed the dagger with full force, the resulting screech of metal was deafening. Even I, for all the pain I could take without moving a muscle, HAD to wince at that. No body or thing with ears could endure a sound like _that…_ not even me.

**VWVWVWVWV **

I glanced around, and even though I had ringing, painful ears, I had to grin with satisfaction at the utter mayhem I had caused. Maybe chuckle. One of the pair who had tried to throw his pike at me had been afflicted with ruptured eardrums before he could let go and was now howling with his hands over his ears. The other had almost let it go, but the effect of the sound had taken its toll; He was now rolling around in sheer agony, like his counterpart, and even as I watched, his pike, thrown _way_ off course by a previously convulsing hand, fell to the ground with an ungraceful _clank._ The 3 in front of me were having seizures, twitching like ferrets, while the rest were howling pitifully in utter and ridiculous agony. Too bad the pedestrians hadn't covered their ears, as everyone except me was down. Poor them, I was now out of the alleyway and in the main part of Meltokio, where I could now move, kill, and escape freely. Yay. After some quick stabs to the remaining soldiers (To the heart, of course)…I looked around. 2 kids and a woman were standing up. One pink haired girl was slowly, shakingly taking her hands off her ears. Everyone else alive was twitching in absolute agony on the ground.

That's when I noticed that the of the 4 now standing, they all…

"Exspheres?" I muttered, surprised. Then, I notice a fifth person.

I realized that first the girl was standing, but not cradling her head, which meant either she had lost her hearing, or had more endurance than me- Most likely the latter choice. Second, she was wearing angel wings. A member of Cruxis. Only thinking of the name was enough the make me tighten my grips around both of the objects in my hand. And, finally…

Her eyes. I remembered the eyes of Cruxis angels. They were empty, but at least there were sparks of life in them- This angel had no spark in them at all. I could see her breathing, but I couldn't see her move. She was just… there. Which meant she was soulless.

In some corner of my mind, far from where I was absorbing the information and trying to churn out a conclusion, a voice told me _move it, you can think about this later. You want to get swarmed by pikemen, swordsmen, and what-the-crapmen?_ My feet obeyed the the voice, but I was too busy staring to even notice that I was about to step on…

I jumped as I stepped on something warm and soft. I had been so absorbed in my thinking that I hadn't seen a longhaired guy in my path that was twitching from my little sonic disturbance… On closer look, I had stepped on his chest, and…

He cracked open an eye and look straight into my own golden ones.

I should have known. It was the Chosen of Tethe'Alla, the infamous womanizer of this dimension. I resisted rolling my eyes at him, but then he stared up at me in absolute terror, I stared back. For 30 seconds, we played a staring contest, until I, feeling the need to get the hell out of here, kicked him in the jaw. I just lift my left foot, exactly parallel to the Chosen's stiff-at-his-sides arms, and slashed up. _Crack._ Immediate concussion.

Hearing the heavy, clanking footsteps of Papal Knights, I ran on the wall, jumped and vaulted over the 20-foot wall, long gone before they came to that little corner of Meltokio.

**VWVWVWVWV **

"Wh-who was he?" Genis asked as he wobbled on his feet. Lloyd shook his head, and, as a loss of balance stability first lost by the horribly point-blank screech of metal on metal and further lost by his shaking of his head, fell flat on his nose. "Owww..." he mumbled, as Zelos snored on, unaware he was missing a very hilarious scene. Well, anybody would be when they're knocked out, right? As Colette just stood there, oblivious (thankfully) to the metalic sound, Raine staggered to her feet, using a her rod as support, hoping desperately she didn't fall like Lloyd did.

** VWVWVWVWV**

"How in the world did they have exspheres? And how come that girl didn't seem to have a soul? Or was it an illusion?" I muttered to myself as the first spire of the Tethe'Alla Grand Bridge became visible on the horizon.

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Urg, no more reviews? I feel quite unloved... Oh, and you noticed my new system of character switching, right? (Or not...) This system is now offiically IN USE! (Well, it'll be absent in the next 2 chapters, but after that, it's here to stay) 


	9. Reprises

Heh, I just finished ToS a second time (Yay!), so I've been distracted, but I don't want to revise this, this took me FOREVER to write! A.K.A. I stayed up till 12 to finish this chapter (trampled on) (hard)

And wow, 250 hits! Wait, for 8 chapters? INTOLERABLE CRUELTY! TwT

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After having cast First Aid on every bystander and member of the group that were afflicted with painfully ruptured eardrums, Raine joined the others in front of the city, getting ready to take a rest in the inn- Half of the group was tired from going from the Fooji mountains to Meltokio, and therefore needed a nights rest. As the afternoon sunk in and an orange sun lit the skyline on fire, they were furisously arguing with each other, pointlessly, as she saw it. 

"Why didn't you stop that guy from knocking me out! I lost a tooth because you couldn't stop him, you brat!" "Oh, so I'm supposed to be the one who saves your disgusting ass from everybody that wants to knock you out?" "Hell yeah, who wouldn't want to protect the gorgeous me?" "I sure as hell wouldn't! I could barely stand back there!" "Hell, magic doesn't require you to be standing!" "Yes it does, if I'm supposed to let my kendama help me concentrate-" "Then learn how to cast a spell lying flat on the floor, little brat!" "You son of a-"

Raine pulled their flailing bodies apart as she sighed wearily. "Zelos, Genis couldn't have been able to cast a spell fast enough. You can't blame him." "Hell I can!" Zelos yelled, flailing his arms, forgetting for once in his anger that his "super glamorous beauty" was _very_ temperental. As his fist collided with the side of her head, causing her to shriek out in fury and whale on him, Genis snuck away, to find Lloyd standing in front of the inn, his back on a wall, looking on thoughtfully as Raine reduced Zelos to a quivering heap all while she raged on about not hitting her brother or else. "What are you thinking about, Lloyd?" Genis asked wearily, leaning against the same wall Lloyd was leaning against.

"I'm thinking about that…. Guy…. Yeah, guy. I'm saying that because he's my age, and Raine doesn't call me a kid so, I think we should just call him a guy instead of 'kid'…" "Ohhh!! Lloyd's thinking for once!" Genis taunted playfully. "Shut it, Genis!" Lloyd retorted with the same playfulness. They had a laugh for a few minutes, then they pulled back into their discussion. "So, what else?" Genis asked. "Well… I was thinking about what he did. I mean, I saw him slash that dagger, or what it was across the flat of that sword of his… I mean, that sound, everybody's talking about it! See?" He jabbed a finger at a passing group of scholars busy arguing. From what Genis could hear, it was about a metallic sound that had happened well over a hour ago. He nodded. "Yeah, I see your point, but… What else?"

"Did you see what he did when he got out of this place?" Lloyd asked. Genis nodded. "Yeah, when he vaulted over the wall? I know, I was pretty stunned, too. I mean, that wall was 20 feet high, and not even you can jump that high! Even with your Exsphere…"

"Yeah, I know. I mean… Wow, just think of it- That guy- Wait, that guy didn't have an exsphere!" Lloyd yelped, attracting quite a bit of attention as heads on the street turned. But Genis didn't notice. He was too busy trying to figure out what his best friend was saying. A guy who did some amazing things had no exsphere on? What was the world coming to?

_**A hour and a half earlier…**_

I raced across the bridge, yelling apologies over my shoulder whenever I knocked somebody down. I was too busy thinking to stop and say them politely. Well to be exact, I was occupied with the thought of a certain soulless angel…

"Angels have souls, because they were once alive," I muttered under my breath, hastily yelling another "Sorry!" over my shoulder for a guy whom I had trampled over. "They have souls, but they can't feel anything. They live, but they never age. The are all half-elves, given wings thanks to their Cruxis" I clenched my teeth saying that "Crystals. That girl had a Cruxis Crystal, but she her ears weren't pointed, so she's not a half elf, or elf. So she could only be come body who-"

What I thought next was so surprising for me that I yelped in surprise while I was running at full speed, inadvertedly losing my balance and sending be flying face-first into the ground. But I had no intention of getting one- It would be inevitable, if I didn't do something. So, I did something.

As I was flying forward, I lashed my legs, currently completely parallel to the surface of the bridge, upwards. The resulting motion of my body now had the top of my skull literally gliding over the surface. The lashing of my legs had given me something valuable as well; it had given me extra time in the air to complete my, err, recovery maneuver. I shoved hands down, then pushed. This sent me waaaaay up into the air, giving me even more airtime, into a series of front flips I expertly controlled, down till I was on solid ground. I turned my head to the right and looked behind. A person I hadn't noticed while going through my little aerobics show was now staring at me like I was a freak. I, realizing this, added some more to the guy's mindset that I was a freak- I grinned at him in my own way, letting the natural kink in both layers of my teeth create a little illusional jagged fang when viewed by any, a break in an otherwise uniform line of an overbite. He took the bait and ran off, screaming his head off about a demon who flew and had a single very dangerous fang in his mouth. I chuckled, then turned to my front again, where I saw to my surprise that I was at the bridge's end, and that sunset had already began. Already?

_**At the present time…**_

I arrived at Sybak. Again. I looked around the entrance fritivly before staring at my glowing wrist. Well, the orb in my glowing wrist. My exsphere. I used it as a way of navigating places and times of darkness, like now. This happened whenever I pumped mana into the area around my hand, letting it exude a soft white light. Any bandits could easily spot me, and besides I had natural night time vision (Even if I didn't have my exsphere, for that matter). But who cared about motley men and women too, well scared to do much except scream "Gimme yer loot" and, well, pretty much most of the time if their victims knew how to fight, scream "Noooooo!!!" and die ungraciously. Oh well. As I willed the mana to disperse from my hand, it responded accordingly, sputtering light as a form of protest before becoming completely dark. I glanced around, then took off my scarf- The only way the most knew that I was a wanted criminal was my huge scarf. Nobody had ever lived to see my face. Slipping into an alley and climbing the walls of the Sybak Library with my daggers to the roof, I plopped down. Well, I didn't plop, I fell on my knees, adjusted my now-folded-scarf as a pillow, then I completely lay down on my back looking up into the stars, my mind already wandering to the Chosen of Sylvarant who had given up both her own humanity and soul. Or was the so-called Chosen a girl who had naturally had red-eyes and was extremely quiet/shy/both? Most likely no, she'd have to be deaf to endure what I put everybody's (Including my own) eardrums through...

_**At the Campus Cottage**_

Lloyd dropped down on a bed to rest his weary body and ear drums, even though he had been healed by the professor. Everyone had painful eardrums. Even though He and Genis argued passionately to rest, Zelos had won out. Even the Raine had to agree the soon they gave back Colette her soul, the better. And so, they had trekked over the Grand Tethe'Alla Bridge for 3 hours during which he had to stop Colette from walking over the barrier into the ocean. It was exhausting, but but he still couldn't get the memory of a teenager (Maybe not?) with a huge brown scarf just vault over a 20-foot wall like it was nothing…

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Please Read and Review! 


	10. Fellow blood

I began working on this chapter the moment I finished writing 'A realization and a reprise' so DO NOT BLAME ME IF I MAKE TYPOS OR SPELLING ERRORS! I'M LAZY, AND I'VE GOT FAGITUDE! IT'S 1 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING AS I TYPE THIS!

Oh, and I don't own anything even remotely related to the Tales series. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, NAMCO???

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I woke up to a purple sky, just a few minutes before dawn. My eyes just snapped open, I didn't know why. But I knew that I in reality I was too busy thinking about the Chosen who had abandoned her own world. Strange, nah, that's an understatement. More likely, it's more aptly called 'insane'. I mean, I had heard about the assassin that was sent to Sylvarant, but I wasn't going to check it out- I knew perfectly well about the fact he I'd have to be a Renegade or atleast allied to them to use the dimensional-time transporter. I had also heard about the Otherworldly gate, but I wasn't taking my chances with that, either. I had no idea where it might land me, in the ocean, a volcano, or perhaps a mountaintop. Screw that dilemma. And I didn't even know how it worked, and when I could go there, anyway, and I had no Rheaird to go there. I tried to steal one from the Tethe'Alla Base once, and it had ended with in failure and a whole lot of wasted gels, for I got MOBBED by some Renegades. It's no good with no armor on except a gauntlet on your right hand, and especially when that hand is holding a sword, it becomes even less ineffective than it should be. Ugh. I couldn't help but wince at my own audacity at even trying to go against highly-trained Renegades on their own turf with only 2 daggers, a cleaver, and a single (If not super-endurant) gauntlet. Since then, I had attatched various (and well thought of) protective garment, such as a makeshift shoulder guard made from my own 2 hands when I snuck into a blacksmith's forge one night. But the rest I had? It was basically a bunch of tightly-woven cloth. And that is never effective in the face of, well, literally, fire. Or the elements, of course. Crap. 

I lifted my head, blinked to clear my eyes of sleep, and looked at the sun. It was only showing it rim as it rose, but at the very least, I could watch the hues of pink, some traces of blue, red, and orange dance.

_**The Campus Cottage**_

Lloyd popped open a still-sleepy eye and noticed with shock a part of a caved-in wall that he hadn't noticed when he had first came here (A/N: Read the first chapter to get what happened, or, take the easy way, you cheaters, and read on). He rolled out of bed, and, in an attempt to keep an eye on the wall, rolled off and fell flat on his back to the wooden floor. His resulting yelp woke up the entire inn, and as the the patrons streamed in looking for whoever caused the disturbance in their sweet dreams he stood up shakily, trying to ignore the dull ache in his shoulder blades. He felt himself going red in the face as he was berated for his horrid so-called-clumsiness for waking them up for no good reason and for looking for a way to do nothing more than make trouble. As he kept trying to defend himself, and failing as he kept stuttering multiple apologies at once, the inn keeper saved him from eternally damning embarrassment by roaring for them all to 'Shut and leave or go back to bed or whatever or else I'll kick you all out.' Okay, they did leave, albeit mutter 'stupid kid' under their breaths, but not before the innkeeper shot Lloyd a dirty look and made his way back to the counter. After he got outside, he found everybody except Colette and Presea looking at him like he was the biggest joke of the millennia. "What did I do!? I just- I just- I just-"

"You just fell out of bed Lloyd really loud, and man, you looked like you were gonna die back there! Hahahaha!!!"

"Shut it, Genis!"

"I've got to agree with this brat here, you were really hilarious back there, dude. I mean, I could never get my cute hunnies to laugh!"

"Sheesh Zelos, they all wanted to rip my heart out!"

After being assaulted from all sides by 2 laughing males and a chuckling female professor, he stormed off to the Academy much faster than anybody would expect. "Idiots," he muttered under his breath. "I'm not that much of a laugh…"

When the still-chuckling Genis found Lloyd in the academy, everyone saw him walking around and examine the artifacts on display childishly grinning while he was at it. "Uh, Lloyd…" Genis called. Lloyd din't notice- He was still trying to examine a Bigfoot claw that he had seen. "Lloyd!" Genis yelled, but the red-clothed boy in question rushed off to examine the exoskeleton of a Scarlet Mantis. "Lloyd!" Genis yelled, finally losing his temper and kicking him in the side of the shin. Atleast, he wanted to kick the side of his shin but…

At that moment he turned around to face Genis when he was swinging up his foot, and was saying irratbly "What?" before Genis's foot collided with the private… parts of Lloyd Ivring.

"ARRRRRGGHHHH!!!!!"

After the hysterics had died down in the Academy, Zelos was talking to the director. "Say, 'rector" he spoke gallantly. "Could you analyze my little angel for me?" "O-oh, yes, Chosen! C-come this way…"

The director stumbled that last few steps along the way to the lab. For embarrasment reasons, considering everybody was gaping at him in awe wtih a Chosen right behind him.

_**In a laboratory**_

"So you mean…. That Cruxis Crystals are just stronger exspheres?" Lloyd asked, amazed. "This is… insane…"

"Yes, it's true" the director said solemnly. And, we diagnose that he current status is caused by her Cruxis Crystal, and that it has absorbed her soul, locking it away, it seems."

"So…" Then Lloyd jumped up so fast that everyone that had emotions jumped up as well in surprise. "Then it means that if we make a key crest for it, then we'll get Colette back her soul!" "Yes, that's true, at least it seems" the director said, mildly surprised at the boy's reaction to his own idea.

"Then, we'll just have to find a key crest. Let's go look for one!"

_**Later, on the rooftop of the Sybak Library**_

I stared at the sky, careful not to look directly into the sun. With my, er, supereyes, any bright flash of light left an impression on my vision, even though the flashes that came often disappeared in 30 seconds. Still though, it would damn hurt to endure that, and since my legs were dangling from the edge of the roof- I just might fall off. My scarf was stored in my pack, and, since most students were in classes right now, at noontime (That would most likely change in a few minutes, when the students rushed out to lunch) nobody was on the streets, and even if they would, they wouldn't look up; Most of the time they were too bust looking with their heads down, thinking like mad for a soloution to a immensely stupid, useless, and complicated problem of doom. Yadadada. Since when should it ever matter when you really need to survive instead of put a boatload of crap in your head and grow weaker and weaker and weaker? Wow, these people might have intellect, but they have no logic…

The bell rang. It always startled me- This was always my sort of 'looking ground' for trouble and such, but I was always lost in thought whenever I sat here, and whenever lunch came. Scooting back as the students flooded the streets of Sybak, so they wouldn't see me, I decided I'd just listen. A few minutes- Everything was perfect. Hustling and bustling, yells to friends, indignant girls yelling at unlucky boys- the usual. The next few minutes? No.

I noticed a hush had come over the crowds, so I peeked over the roof's edge. And from there…

I noticed with a shock that the 2 white-haired boy and girl were walking, shackled. As I strained to listen, I heard one person say "Those guys are half-elves-"

_Half-elves!?_

I looked closer, and yes, I saw the pointed ears. Then, I tuned in my mana sensing, and yes, the unique fusion of mana from the mix of elf and human was radiating obvious signs for all those who could sense mana.

I quickly tied my scarf around my neck again- It felt much better to have the familier roughness of it around my neck- And ran from rooftop to rooftop. I couldn't let them be executed. For I was their kin, no matter if I hated my blood or was proud of it. Because I was a half-elf.

_**The basement of the academy**_

"No," Kate snapped. "I don't believe you! You'd just turn on them the first chance you get-" "No I'm serious!" Lloyd said, expatriated.

"He was not born in this world."

Everybody looked around wildly for the source of the voice, but they didn't have to. The source revealed itself instantly.

With a _poof_ of gray smoke…

"Corrine!" Lloyd exclaimed. "So, it means.."

"He was raised by a dwarf in Sylvarant." A moment later, in a similar fashion to Corrine's she appeared as well. "Sheena!" Lloyd yelped. "How did you-!?" "I followed you to here." Sheena replied, then directed her attention to Kate. "What he says is true; He really has half-elf friends."

"No, that's not-" Kate paused for a moment before sighing. "Alright. If what your saying is true, then come back when you have rescued your friends, take them here. Then I'll release Presea from the experiment. In the meantime, get out through here." She walked over to a bookshelf in the corner of the damp basement and pushed it. It easily slipped away, revealing a passage. "Thanks," Lloyd told Kate, and rushed into the passage.

_**The Grand Tethe'Alla Bridge, the northern end, later**_

I watched from a distance as the half-elves were led away down the bridge. I was standing behind one of the 2 massive bridge posts that anchored the bridge to solid ground- Otherwise, the bridge would sway this way and that without these posts and the ones at the other end of the bridge. The part where that Papal Knights were leading the half-elves off to…

I waited till they were almost down to the center of the bridge, then I joined the steady-slash-confused crowd as they kept moving but kept glancing towards the Papal Knights. It's not exactly an everyday event, it is, a bunch of people in green armor leading 2 people away down a very large, exsphere supported bridge, eh?

I just walked, and kept doing so, till I had gone half the way down the bridge. That's when….

The loudspeakers blared suddenly. "All people, off the bridge. The bridge is lifting. All people off. The bridge is lifting."

I could have listened to it continue and all, but I decided to block it out and run like hell. Dimly, I heard some others running behind me, but I didn't think.

The bridge began it's slow rise, and as I neared the break, the bridge groaned _very_ loud, different than 2 days ago. But I realized that the bridge was rising faster- It meant that the knights had either gone desperate, that they had seen me and were trying to stop him from crossing. Or, because I was running so hard, It was all an illusion- Definitely that. I ran. The edge was snapped into view, and…

I jumped. For a moment, I could see the sea, glittering in the noon sun. I didn't dare stop to admire the sparkles- If I didn't land correctly on the top of the opposing/rising side of the bridge, I over shoot and fall a looooong way- I was _not_ going to risk my life for that, cause I doubted even I could survive a fall like that.

I smashed my daggers, which I had gotten out during mid-flight, into the bridge. As the side of the bridge rose, the bottom edge jutted into my ribs, but I didn't dare get a more comfortable hold on the bridge- The slant of the side was now almost 90 degrees, but still moving, and therefore vibrating- I'd have signed my own death warrant if I tried to move, I would just fall off into the sea. And from my height on the bridge, falling into water would mean the same a falling on a sheet of bed rock from this height-Somewhere around 200 meters above the ocean surface. I heard a voice behind me yelling "Undine! Please help us!" behind and below me, and looked up. What I saw almost made me lose grip on my daggers- I saw a girl with wings, the same girl that I had seen in Meltokio, the soulless one, and a moment later, 3 people fly, with trails of blue mana flowing behind them-

"Damn!" I mutter in amazement. "They can summon! And Undine's not a spirit in Tethe'Alla, so- Holy shit, they're from Sylvarant!"

_**A minute ago**_

"Damn!" Lloyd yelped with frustration. "They're raising the bridge!" "We can't cross, then." Zelos said dejectedly, ready to slow down. "No!" Lloyd roared. "We have to jump!" "Are you crazy-!?" "Yes! Juuuuuump!!!!"

They almost didn't make it. While Colette simply flew the rest of the gap, they fell short, falling into what seemed like a _very_ painful fall. "Undine! Please help us!" Sheena cried. The mentioned spirit instantly appeared, and, with a flick of her hand, the Maiden of the Mist commanded water vapor to stop their fall, and cause them to rise again, even slowing their fall down to the other side. They never saw a brown-scarfed person hanging for dear life on the bridge in their relief.

_**Now**_

"Fuck!" I growled. "It's not fair, I get these untensils of killing and survival and these people can summon!? Damn them! They've got all the surviving cut out for them!" I pushed myself into a standing position on the makeshift-and-formerly-horizontal to the surface of the ocean. I took a deep breath, as I saw the Papal Knights approaching them, sheathed my knives, then I leaped off the platform towards the knights.

_**The ground**_

"You!" One of the green armored men yelled. "How did you escape!?-"

He never got to finish his sentence. He looked up, and he stepped back in horror. All of them, guards, ninja, Chosen, children, and half-elves bound far from the scene of confrontation looked or spun around and looked at the object of interest so made obvious by the actions of the leader.

Lloyd had never seen anything like it. A person looking rather familiar was flying towards the captain- Well, falling would be a more adept word, but- Lloyd saw a flash of gold as the guy passed over him. Lloyd spun around-

_**Kendal**_

I smashed into the captain at full speed, stretching out my body horizontally at the last moment to help me recover from my maneuver better. I heard the crunch of broken ribs as I rolled away, the momentum carried me forward still, not yet spent. I quickly stood up, and watched with satisfaction as the guards spun around, and realizing who I was because of my trademark scarf, stepped back, straight into a storm of cards, swords, axes, and chakrams. I didn't even need to fight at all. I looked behind me, and wha-la, 2 half-elves, bound and looking at me like I'm a 10 foot _very_ hungry dragon about to swallow them.

"Turn around?" They didn't respond. "Turn around? Please?" This time they did, but slowly, so as to make sure that I didn't stab them in the back or so and such. I whipped out my cleaver and cut the boy's bonds first with a downward slash and the woman's with an upward one, my blade tracing a sort of zig-zag line in the air. "Finally," I sighed as I jammed my cleaver back in it's sheath, "You turned around."

They didn't respond.

* * *

They finally meet up! 

Kendal: That took a long time...

Zelos: Still, it's better than getting knocked out by you...

Me: Too bad, Z-man, you'll get knocked out by him TWICE next chapter! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!

Zelos: (screams) NOOOOOOOO, WHY WHY WHY WHY!!! WHY! (goes on forever)

Kendal and me: (sweatdrop) (turns away)


	11. To be aquianted

FINALLY! The gang's complete! Okay, no it's not, I still have to write up to Regal… Ugh! Oh well…

Kendal: If you people think this chapter is pointless, then STEP INTO MY SHOES AND THING ABOUT HOW CRAPPY THIS STORY WOULD BE IF I DIDN'T KNOW EVEN A SINGLE DAMN NAME!

Me: (sweatdrop) No need to be overexcited... Oh, and I don't own anything related to the Tales series. Only Kendal.

* * *

Genis could only stare at the person towering above him that was looking down at him. 

He had seen the flight of this… person from when he had stood up and leaped like there was no tomorrow for him off the top of the bridge. Who was he? Was he a demon or something? Genis barely noticed when the person politely requested they turn around, and when he had slashed Raine's and Genis's bounds.

"Can you please stop staring at me already? It's rude, annoying, and freakin' uncomfortable. Please? PRETTY PLEASE???"

At the browned-haired person semi-roar, Genis gave a squeak almost identical to his sister's (Except, of course, Raine's being slightly more femine) and lowered his eyes.

VWVWVWVWVWV

I sighed. I couldn't blame them for wanting to stare at me- Who wouldn't want to stare at a guy who just dived from 150 meters in the air? Maybe you'd think he's insane or something, but…

I felt stares drilling holes in the back of my head, so, I turned around and told them "That's very rude of you to stare, so please, mind your manners."

Who did I think I was, anyway? Now, I'm ordering people to look away because they're staring. Well, it is rude, but I'm just ordering/asking. Most likely asking. But, they couldn't stop staring, so that was useless…

Lloyd stared. He had too. He felt frozen in place by the guy's eyes. Golden, so out of place with the gold, blue, and other colors that dominated the group. Common colors. But it wasn't just that- The eyes were so…

So _cold._

The person raised his eyebrows, snapping Lloyd (And the others, he was sure, from their sharp intakes of air) out of their hypnotic trance. "Who… are you?" Lloyd managed to speak out. The person cocked his head, surveying him before saying in a voice rather different than from what his eyes told "Kendal. Kendal Seychell."

"Oh." Lloyd managed. That was all he could say, along with everyone behind him. "Oh."

A long period of silence followed as everyone stared at the perso- Kendal, as they stared, he stared back. He stared. They did the same.

"Will you please stop staring at me? I already said it was rude, or are you retarded or something?"

VWVWVWVWVWV

I heard a childish voice behind me. "I'm not retarded!" 

I didn't bother turning around. "If you keep staring at me, which I know you're doing, then you must be. So stop." "Well, you can't blame us for wanting to stare at you, mister." That was a red-haired guy. I switched my gaze over to him, and wha-la, I realize it's the one and only Chosen of Mana (Of Tethe'Alla, of course). The great, narcissistic womanizer. The one and only Zelos Wilder.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, so now you're a psychologist?"

I heard the kid giggle behind me, so I shot a glance behind me. Just an extremely brief one. The kid instantly stopped giggling at my one fleeting glance, a tribute to my horribly scaring demeanor. Okay, that was just my eyes, but…

They were scary. Real. And it pretty much made me wince inside as turned my head forward again and engaged the redhead in one of my stares gain; I watched the great Zelos Wilder freeze in the, same albeit uncomfortable position of rubbing the inside of his knee with his opposite foot that he was in a moment ago. A.K.A., he was on one foot. And, even worse, he was tilting his body backwards at that moment, so, the moment he froze, locked in my stare, he lost his balance and crashed to the ground, knocked down by me as a base reason for the second time in 2 days.

Everybody broke out in a fit of laughter. More likely, hysteria. Everyone had to laugh at the now-snoring Zelos on his still-curved back as he slept on blissfully, unaware (again) that he was being mocked in his moments of unconsciousness. Even me, I _had_ to make a chuckle. It just doesn't happen every day.

When the laughs finally subsided, Genis felt the urge to ask a question, despite the fact that most likely it would bring down another scary glance from Kendal again. "So, uh, m-m-mister, K-K-Kendal, er, why did you s-s-save us?" Genis's sister immediately spoke up besides him. "I needed to know from the very beginning from when I saw you do that to stunt. Why?"

Lloyd had to admit that the professor was being quite brave to engage the goldenly demonic eyes of Kendal. "I wanted to ask that too… I mean, you're a Tethe'Allan, so why did you save them when there's so much half-elf discrimination in this world-"

I whirled around in a brief moment of rage, thinking of the utter ignorance that this red-clothed idiot had in this world. "What do you think I did it for, idiot? Doesn't everything deserve to live?" I said in a cold, quiet, downright deadly voice. The guy stepped back in fright. "N-no, it-it's just- just that there's so much discrimination, and I was wondering how somebody in this world could defend half-elves when everyone hates them- No, I don't hate them," he said hastily in response the menacing look I was giving him. "I don't care about half-elves- The people behind you, they're-"

"Half-elves," the stranger- Kendal said in a bored tone, his eyes now half lidded, giving a lazy demeanor in sharp contrast to the look in them from a few seconds ago. "Yeah, I know, I was at Sybak when they got arrested. Now, I've given you my name, so now you give yours. Common courtesy, you know."

I saw the brunette be taken aback by my sudden rush of words before saying clearly "I'm Lloyd."

I glanced down at the sleeping Chosen and muttered "That's Zelos…" A girl near the red- Lloyd stepped forward and said clearly "I'm Sheena."

I glanced at her, and all of a sudden, I'm getting this ghostly feeling, which meant my brain was trying to tell me something, most likely from my memories. I flitted my eyes behind me to prevent any thoughts from the others about whether I was related to her or not. To get the ghostly feeling out of me, I asked the half-elves. "Who are you?"

The taller, the female answered. "I'm Raine, and this is Genis," indicating the smaller half-elf. "We're sibling."

Both my eyebrows shot up to the middle of my forehead. "Um, he's half your height," I noted. "Yes," she replied, a bit of annoyance in her tone. "I'm his older sister."

"Oh."

I knew that pestering them more was out of the question- Their hair was a definite indication of blood relations, as white hair occurring naturally was pretty rare- The only way somebody else would most likely be able to have the same colors would have to be a fraternal- or identical- twin. Or sibling. What did it matter, anyway? Hair color didn't matter, most of the time personality and actions did. Hair, just like blood, could be used to discriminate against some people, members of world who could live and die just like anyone else. So why was I bothering even thinking about it now?

"So," I asked, "What did you guys come to Tethe'Alla for?"

I saw everyone, except the conscious Chosen (?), unconscious Chosen and a pink haired girl step back in surprise. Bull's eye.

"H-How do you know" The boy name Lloyd asked shakily. The half-elves Genis and Raine and that lavender haired girl, Sheena also voiced their confusion, also in identical shaky tones.

"Simple," I said, sighing. "Didn't you notice that Undine isn't a spirit in Tethe'Alla? So, it means that in order for you people to have been able to summon her, you people are from Sylvarant and somehow wound up here, or, you guys are all from Tethe'Alla and" I said as a new idea occurred to me "You guys flew back to Tethe'All on Rheairds. Oh, and to come back to this side, Rheairds are the only way to cross between the worlds, so you people must be in possession of some Rheairds."

I waited for the shit to hit fan. I didn't both telling that I was telling a white lie; there was 2 more ways to cross the dimensions, which included the Otherworldly gate (even though I had no idea how the _HELL_ that worked). The second way was only known to me, as a way of crossing the dimensions without having to align myself with the Renegades…

_Everyone_ stepped back. Again. The same people, thought. This time, they all stared at me like I was a beast of horrifically ugly proportions. This time though, I was loving every moment of having the spotlight. "Just who are you?" Lloyd asked me in a voice barely above a whisper. I could only shrug- I had intention of revealing my real identity, in case they were caught be Cruxis. Or I just might, someday…

Without knowing it, I had ushered in a period of silence in which I was still the center of attention. Zelos still hadn't woken up, which was fortunate, because I suspected that he'd throw a fit and fall over and get knocked down. Again. Oh well. "So, where are your Rheairds?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Uh…uh… well…" Lloyd said sheepishly. Then, he put up a guarded look. No wonder; I knew that sooner or later they'd have second thoughts about me. "How do we know that you won't betray us-?"

I sighed. "Sure, you sure as hell don't know me at all, but what are you going to do? This group has two half-elves, and, please don't tell me that you guys have other bits of trouble on your heels as well…"

"Well, we do" Sheena spoke up. "We're wanted by the Pope."

"See?" I gestured furiously. "You people are wanted, and there's 2 half elves with you." I heard Genis mutter behind me "Not this half-elf thing again"

"So, what could be worse? I know I'm backing you guys up into a corner, but hey, you already were backed up in a corner, so please tell the location of the Rheairds." I folded my arms, confident in the soundness of my reasoning. I could see it in their faces (In front of me, that is, except for Ms. Angel and the pink haired girl), they were now having _third_ thoughts about me. Ah well.

"So, what is it?"

"Fine, we'll tell you." Lloyd said, grumbling. "But if you cross us-"

"I won't."

He looked at me oddly before sighing. It was at that unfortunate moment that fate told Zelos Wilder to wake up. He looked up, groggy, at everyone, and slurred "So what did I miss?"

I saw Sheena flash a rather wicked grin before pointing to me. I suddenly understood her scheme. All to knock Zelos Wilder out, again. For the third time in 2 days. He looked. His eyes went wide. I looked. He stared. When I began walking over, he squeaked like a mouse and began to crawl backwards, with his back on the ground, until his head hit the vertical wall which was previously a horizontal part of the bridge. Hard.

Too bad it didn't knock him out.

* * *

One of those pointless chapters. WELL IT'S NOT POINTLESS! Do you think a story would go well if everyone only said "You," "Hey you," and what-the-crap there is. And why does nobody review? (sobs)  



	12. Some seraphim and a cardinal

Yes, another fight scene! (squeals) Oh, and why are people so obsessed with Yuri and Yaoi? I just can't get it...

EDIT, 09/10/07: I decided to edit the fight scene slightly. So, for those of you who were slightly dissatisfied, read this one again!

* * *

"So," I asked after I finished my fit at laughter at the disgruntled male Chosen, "where are they?" I didn't need to say anything else for everyone to know I was talking about the Rheairds- All except Zelos, of course. He had; was clueless, as he had been knocked out when I had my little agreement with Lloyd and co. And quite disgruntled at having been knocked out 3 times in a row in 2 days. Wow, I was a curse to him, huh? 

We were now at the base of the Fooji Mountains, the location the crashed Rheairds- Lloyd and Genis had filled me in about why they did that. I listened like I didn't know any of it, but I was lying through my teeth- I knew perfectly that the mana levels had fallen sharply in Tethe'Alla, and that the Chosen of Sylvarant hadn't truly finished Regeneration yet. So now, monsters were appearing, for the first time in a long hundred and fifty or so years of prosperity in Tethe'Alla…

Which reminded me of the question I had been unable to ask at the bridge to the group, the very first question I wanted to confront them with, but was deterred from by their _extremely_ uncomfortable stares. Sheesh, I've got feelings, I'm not a stupid soulless angel…

"Lloyd" I spoke, pulling him aside as he was about to take the first step into the mountain trails, "Is that goldette the Chosen of Sylvarant?"

He looked startled, but got over it quickly; he had already gotten used to me deciphering a lot of mysteries about them, including where they were from, how they had gotten to Tethe'Alla, and that Colette was an angel- That was just to name them all. Now, there was one more thing I had figured out to add to that list…

"Yeah, she is" he said warily. He still hadn't gotten over the feeling of suspicion yet, but that was just him? At the very least, he wasn't shooting distrustful glances over his shoulders anymore. He was actually the best of the bunch, the rest, (especially Zelos) kept shooting looks at me. I hadn't told them yet I was a half elf, but it didn't matter yet, as I hadn't shown them all I could use the strangest forms of magic ever conceived; All they knew was (to them) I was a semi-clinically insane fellow that happened to pop up when they were in a desperate situation and was wanted by the government of Tethe'Alla (That was all that I had told them, but nothing about _why _I was wanted; Zelos had helped inadvertently why he kept his mouth shut while explaining my standing in the government) who knew a literal ton of information about both worlds. Maybe that was the reason why everybody kept shooting me glances of suspicion, because I knew a little too much about the situations of the 2 worlds…

We continued up. I noticed the remnants of a mini-rockslide, given that there was a load of rocks blocking the trail. Well duh. I just hopped over it, to the amazement of the others, who shot me envious glances (even Zelos); Even Sheena, a ninja for what I had managed to analyze from her clothes and fighting style (We had to fight a pesky egg bear on the way to here) had to climb the constantly shifting load of rocks as they fell of the pile when somebody touched the wrong rock. Colette, always the soulless one, simply flew over and stopped. When they all came down on the other side, I gave them my best what-the-hell-took-you-stupid-exsphere-equipped-idiots-so-long before turning and grinning secretly to myself. Payback time. On the grandest scale for whatever glances they threw at me.

Halfway, I glanced off to the left and saw the second way. The second way out of Tethe'Alla, the place I had mentioned to myself at the Grand Tethe'Alla Bridge. I could see a steeply rising yellow line that signified the route to the dimensional rip on the top of that mountain to a third-

"What are you doing?"

I almost fell over in shock. It was Lloyd, and he was staring at me strangely all while puffing and rubbing his light pink face. He had made a big effort to keep up with me, it seemed- I could hear the others coming from a turn in the trail that obstructed everybody's vision of each other. With a muttered sigh and a "Nothing" I continued up the trail. I heard Lloyd mutter behind my back "Strange," but did I really need to care now? I just wanted them to trust me for once. Something that I been severely lacking for a thousand or so years, give or take.

_**Later**_

The moment I saw the slop flatten sharply out, I knew the top was reached. The rest caught up to me in a minute; They kept staring at me with a bit of grudging respect in their eyes. Owing my complete domination over them when it came to physical things, well…

I hopped up the last steep past, and, wha-la, 4 green, red, blue, and purple Rheiards are there. Lucky the area got rain so rarely, otherwise they'd be sparking even after a few days of utter and complete dryness. Then again, there was always high-speed winds that could kick up dirt and clog an exhaust vent or _something_…

I was just about find out what that something was. In the meanwhile, I leaned back against a rock on one side of the clearing, and decided to let them do the dirty handling work. Then I noticed something orange on the ground, and was about to go examine it when…

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd rushed forward, and looked around. Yep, this was just how it was when they had been when they had crashed. He turned around to look at Zelos. "Hey Zelos, you said you knew a way to get the Rheairds out of here, right? Can you use whatever secret weapon you were talking about?"

"Sure" Zelos said in a rather smug tone, and led them to the center of the mountain top. Suddenly…

A loud humming sound instantly came into Lloyd's ears, as well as a barrier consisting of multiple orange polygons popped up into his sight. He immediately rushed at the barrier, but his hand simply bounced, meaning that there was no reason to think that his swords would go through. However…

_Colette_! She was standing outside the barrier, thankfully, but she was just standing there, making no effort to help them, nor even make any reaction the a barrier that just popped up in front of her and imprisoned her friends.

Yuan immediately warped up. "Yuan!" Lloyd yelled at the sight of him. "What are you doing-!?"

"Quiet, fool" he said shortly. "You," he snapped to a pair of Renegades behind him "Retrieve the Rheairds." "Yes sir!"

"Damn," Lloyd mumbled dejectedly. Now the reasons for being here were being carried away before their eyes…

"This time, you're mine, Lloyd." Yuan spoke in a tone that suggested intense pride in capturing a certain red-clothed person. Suddenly...

Lloyd had no idea that his life would be saved be the appearance of the group's second enemy.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I instantly saw the shadows of a lone rocky outcropping from behind where I had instinctively hidden when the humming was heard. It was far enough from the Yuan, so I could watch the scene unfold undetected, but close enough so I could leap in if things got ugly. I had hunch that would happen because I had a little..._ grudge_ to settle with a certain bluenette...

The form appearing out of the shadows was no one other than the leader of the Grand Cardinals of the Desians. The one and only woman to have ever achieved a rank like that. Twilight Pronyma.

She calmly floated forward. "Oh? Lord Yuan, what brings you to this backwater place like so?" "I would ask the same of you, Pronyma! The role of the Desians is to wreak havoc upon the declining world!" Retorted Yuan.

I heard Genis mutter something. Straining to hear, I caught "...seen that lady before..." Turning back my attention to the dialouge match between the 2. "…come to this world to retrieve the Chosen… Colette. Please turn her over to me." Pronyma said rather daintily. "Fine, fine," Yuan said dismissively. "But in exchange for the Chosen, I am taking custody of Lloyd. I trust you have no objections?"

"I have received no orders regarding him. Do as you will." Pronyma then glided over to the unresponsive goldette. Lloyd, inside the barrier, yelled "Don't let go Colette!"

The Grand Cardinal simply turned her head and laughed at him. "Hahaha! A wasted effort. Your words cannot reach a Chosen who has lost her soul."

Then something caught her eye. "What's this?" She muttered. Why is there such a crude Key Crest here…?" Then she laughed. "How pathetic. I shall remove this ugly thing at once."

I knew that that Key Crest was handmade by Lloyd, but I had to look away from his expression of devastated horror as the Grand Cardinal's hands reached onto her neck and-

"No!" Suddenly, I noticed the formerly unresponsive girl's eyes had changed instantly into a shade of cerulean, which I supposed was her original eye color.

Yelps of surprise were heard from inside the barrier, like "Colette spoke!" and a few questions as well, such as "Colette! Are you back to normal!?" and so and such. Meanwhile, the girl in question was standing there looking quite puzzled. "W-why is everyone inside that barrier?"

Meanwhile, Yuan was in a state of total shock. "Wh-what!? That pitiful Key Crest… There's no way it could have restrained the girl's Cruxis Crystal!"

Meanwhile I was processing revelations to myself. A Chosen that had just regained her soul. And…

"How could this happen," Pronyma snapped. Then she chuckled evilly. "Oh well, in the end it is but a worthless bauble. Come with me!" she suddenly yelled, and tried to grab the hands of Colette. The intended victim, however, had a different idea in mind. She let out a yelp of "Let me go!" and spun around in a circle, intending for the chakrams to slash Pronyma. Now, _her_ intended victim dodged out of the way, but she had _waaaaaaay_ over spun and so, still spinning around as she lost her balance and toppled, fell on an orange switch I had seen earlier. Needless to say…

The machine immediately sputtered and sparkled, and so the barrier disappeared entirely. I sucked in my breath in amazement. _That _was definitely fortunate clumsiness.

Colette however, I was soon to realize, was rather dim-witted when it came to analyzing current events. "O-oh no! I broke it! I'm sorry!" she whimpered pitifully to no one in particular. I wanted to laugh and laugh and roll on the floor a bit and maybe get a stitch in my side, in sharp contrast to what was on the face of Yuan. A.K.A., shock, surprise, amazement, bah!

Meanwhile, I saw Lloyd go over to Colette, helping her stand up. All while Colette blabbered on and on tearfully about the Key Crest and so and such, Pronyma, however, went into a womanly fit of rage, floated forward, her face flashing WARNING, WOMAN ABOUT TO EXPLODE. I yelled the exact same thing and at the exact same time as Raine did- "Behind you!"

As they the little party turned around, Pronyma screeched, literally, "You impudent fools! Prepare to suffer a painful death at my hands!"

_Yeah,_ I thought to myself sarcastically _you'll do that more likely with your voice than your crappy little hands, you whore-dressing banshee._

"Dark Sphere!" She screeched immediately, when barely anyone had their weapons out. Somehow, I saw Lloyd manage to dodge it from behind the rock; For now, I'd just watch the happy little show.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Demon Fang!" Lloyd yelled, as he sent a ground-skimming shockwave straight at the Desian Grand Cardinal. She easily dodged it. "Is this the best a boy with an exsphere of all things can do?" she taunted, knocking away Zelos's sword. "Yaaahh!!!" Lloyd roared, charging forward. "Lezonarium!" Pronyma called out, as a circle appeared and blasted Lloyd about 10 feet away, with a hazy silhouette of the head of a lion in the air before it disappeared. "I'll show you something better than that! Raging Beast!" He spun around with his swords, forcing Pronyma, to back away, when suddenly he unleashed his own burst of energy and sent Pronyma staggering. "Ugh! You'll pay for that, human scum! Dark Sphere!" This time, Lloyd wasn't as lucky as in the beginning of the battle; He was hit hard on as it imploded on him. "Argh!" He yelled as he was sent some 10-15 feet into the air.

Genis quickly yelled "Wind Blade!" As Lloyd began coming down, thus slowing his fall. "Thanks, Genis," Lloyd panted, and he charged Pronyma again. As the battle was going on, I had been sneaking out from behind the rock I was hiding behind every since the start of the battle. Now, I was just leaning on it, observing the others. "Bloody Lance!" Pronyma roared as multiple swords appeared around Raine and struck her. "Ungh!" Unfortunately for Raine, she was flat on her back when the final magical sword came down. "Yaaaahhh-!?" The, er damsel in distress cried out, awaiting death-

**VWVWVWVWV**

I now had a perfectly legitimate reason for entering the fray- Saving somebody's life. I whipped out my cleaver, and threw it, hard. I didn't put any spin in the throw- I just threw my weapon lancing perfectly towards the magical one as it began to come down on her chest-

My cleaver struck the… bloody… lance as it was barely an inch from a certain white-haired healer's chest. It imploded, sending my cleaver, endurant and unbreakable as always, back to me without a scratch. Meanwhile, everyone around Raine (And the poor, wounded damsel herself) was drenched with blood, hence the name of the spell. Every look on, amazed at the occurrence, but Pronyma wasn't interested in that. She was interested in me, who had just caught the cleaver that had caused the explosion and was now cleanly putting it back into it's sheath on my back. "What did you just do, you poorly attired mongrel?" she asked concerning my clothes in a very deadly voice.

My reply: "Look at yourself, Ms. Whore."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, but I didn't flinch. Who cared about killer glances when one had seen sights far scarier than scary stares?

"Do you know who I am?" She asked me, breaking the silence that had held for the last 10 seconds. "Yeah," I answered mockingly, "You're the queen of all things related to sex."

That didn't go down too well with her. With a demonic howl of rage, she charged at me, disregarding the fact I had a much more maneuverable and effective weapon than the mace she had in hand. Quickly unwinding my scarf around my right arm, I easily sidestepped that, all while tripping her and almost causing her to veer dangerously close to the possibility that she might fall flat on her face. Too bad for me, it would have been really funny, because she instantly righted herself and slashed her mace at me. I sidestepped it again, but this time she swept the ground with it forcing me to jump. That was her mistake.

When somebody forces me into the air, or if I enter it by my own accord, then look, kids, cause something's coming down. Drop kicks, aerial clotheslines, drop punches, just to name a few. Poor Pronyma. Instantly, as I jumped, I swung my body to the side in midair, and did a full-blown double footed-drop kick, sending her staggering and spitting blood. "Damn!" She cursed. "Who are you, scum-"

I was _not_ going to let Pronyma call me whatever she wanted, so I socked her jaw with my left fist. Reeling, she fell backwards, stumbled, then regained stability as she floated. Instantly, I swung my foot on her side. One of are mechanical things on her back tried to block my foot, but it was too fast- It struck her side, solidly and soundly. Pronyma immediately bent over on her side wheezing- I took the opportunity to launch another drop kick at her; This time, instead of staggering backwards in the air, she just stood there, looking very disoriented. I decided to end this, now. I whipped up my cleaver, and held it over my head.

"Dominating Blade!"

I pumped a quick burst of mana into my cleaver, then slashed down. I caughed Pronyma o her left arm; The pain also snapped her out of her dazed trance. That wasn't the main part, however- When my sword touched the rough dirt of the mountaintop, instantly a shockwave blasted from where the blade had hit the floor. Literally. The resulting gold colored shockwave both scarred the mountain top by giving it a hole that was at least half a foot deep and 2 feet long and blasted Pronyma back halfway across the mountaintop. She bounced once before coming to a rest in midair, her eyes rolling in her sockets.

She quickly recovered, though, and shouted "Agarazium!"

I hadn't ever seen this before, and felt a crippling pain in my lower body as I was sent into the air, with no arc toward anybody whatsoever.

I flipped and landed, and realized that while I was in the air Pronyma had taken her sweet, sweet time casting a spell. "Aqua Laser!"

Knowing the weaknesses of the spell helped- I dived out of the way just as a huge burst of laser coming at incredible speeds burst out of nowhere, raking the ground open.

I charged as Pronyma attempted to get her bearings from the cloud of dust kicked up by the water jet, and therefore didn't see me just jump and thrust my shoulder into her. Abruptly sent sprawling, she rose, eyes blazing, and immediately commenced casting another spell.

Not if I could help it.

"Damnation!" I shouted, slashing- More like twirling, really- extremely quickly in five times in succession.

The slash distracted Pronyma enough that she stopped casting even though they were really light cuts. This was enough for me to slug her in the face with my guantlet, catching her straight on the jaw.

Reeling, she caught herself before shouting "Agazarium!"

This time, I was ready. I sprinted forward just as a wave of multi-colored light blasted upwards, which apparently was what had given me the whack and had sent me into the air. Not stopping, I decided the since Pronyma was oh-so conveniently placed right in front of a a rather large boulder...

"Dominating Blade!!"

The gold color shockwave slashed open the ground like a minature and limited Aqua Laser spell, blasting away Pronyma, and _wham_, right into the boulder. One immediate and totally stunned crazy woman, check.

I sheathed my sword, then I slapped my hands together, even my gauntleted one.

Everyone stared at me, until Lloyd (thankfully for an idiot) jumped forward and yelled "Let's settle this right now, Yuan!"

Suddenly, a white-and-gold blur flitted in front of the brunette and parried the blow easily. "Kratos!" Lloyd yelped.

_Kratos?_ I suddenly realized that Kratos Aurion, the great mentor of Mithos Yggdrasil, was here. Yet…

If Kratos was their enemy, then why didn't he just kill Lloyd and the rest of us? I guessed most of us wouldn't last for more than a few seconds if he was really trying to kill us (I bet I might be able to beat him, one-on-one, if I was given a chance), so why hadn't he killed Lloyd?

The auburn-haired man in question spoke to Yuan calmly, after Yuan exclaimed "what are you doing here!" "Leave, Yuan" Kratos said calmly, acting apparently unaware that Yuan had said anything at all. "Lord Yggdrasil requests you to be in his presence."

"Grr…" Growled Yuan. "Are you going to take the Chosen?" "No, leave her with them. It's her toxicosis." At that phrase, Yuan nodded. Then turning to Lloyd, "Lloyd, our battle will have to wait. For now, I will retire." Then just as I expected…

"Wings!?" Sheena yelped. Then, Yuan lifted up from the ground, and began floating away-

Somehow, I snapped. Without thinking, I ripped out my sword and, to the surprise of everyone on the mountaintop, save Yuan who was flying away and had his back turned to me, I threw it straight at Yuan's back.

If it weren't for Kratos, I just might have killed Yuan. He swung out his sword bashed it away with a loud _**CLANG!**_ With both hands. I could see Kratos wincing in pain as he smashed it, which garnered me some satisfaction; so this was how powerful I was without certain… _things_ attatched to my gauntlet. It was also something to be gloating about when I saw Kratos use both hands- Considering he had a Cruxis Crystal, it meant that he had to exert full strength to defect my blade, which was now spinning lazily in the air above myself towards me. For the second time today, I snagged it in midair and sheathed it, and, for the first time today, shot Yuan an undisguised glower of pure hatred. He caught the look; he had looked behind him to find the source of the disturbance in the ears of everyone. He quickly turned behind and flew of, apparently thankful that he didn't have to endure my absolutely withering looks.

* * *

Muahaha! This was an anti-Yuan chapter; I just hate him, for the fact he's so weak. I mean, sheesh, I fight him in the Tethe'Alla base when he's one of the heros of the Kharlan War and without Botta he's totally pwned? Dude! Total contradictions there! XP And, whoo!!! 3000+words! Longest chapter ever for me! 


	13. What's with Kratos?

Augh, disclaimers, disclaimers, disclaimers, screw the disclaimers. Fine, I own nothing but my limbs, a band-aid on me, and pretty much nothing else. DON'T YOU DARE EVER ASK ME ABOUT THE BAND-AID!

* * *

Kratos and I stared at each other. Kratos viewed me with something like puzzlement but I looked at him with something close to utter hatred deep enough to do something extremely inappropriate when it came to laws governing what people should do and what they shouldn't. You'd understand if you knew just what Yuan had done to me, and what Kratos had prevented me from doing…

I knew that he might have visibly flinched in our battle of wills if it had gone on longer, had it not been for Kratos redirecting his attention to a brown-headed 17-year-older. "Why have you come to Tethe'Alla?"

"We're here to save Colette!" Lloyd replied fiercely. A brief pause followed, while Kratos chuckled for an instant, and then went back to business.

"What good will saving the Chosen do? The relationship of the 2 worlds vying for mana has not changed the slightest; their positions have merely been reversed with the world regeneration ritual."

Sheena spoke up, with the slightest bit of anxiety in her voice. "Does that mean that Tethe'Alla is in decline right now?" I supposed the anxiety was for the attachment she had for Tethe'Alla; both world were past of the same original one, but she had grown up in Tethe'Alla from what I knew. Oh well, it wouldn't matter, if Lloyd's… plan was to succeed. Somehow.

"The Twoer of salvation can still be seen in this world, as well." He answered curtly. "As long it can be seen, it means that this world is still flourishing. Although, in the event that the Chosen becomes Martel's vessel, Tethe'Alla will surely bid farewell to its era of prosperity." A short silence followed his words as everyone pondered it. I didn't. I just looked at him. If he was with Cruxis, which I knew, then why was he even bothering to tell us this…?

"Dammit, isn't there anything we can do?" Lloyd exploded, breaking the silence. "Yggdrasil's the one that made the twisted world!"

"Lord Yggdrasil does not consider it twisted" Kratos replied, as emotionlessly as ever. "If you want to do something about it, use your own head." He paused, then continued. "I thought you said you weren't going to make anymore mistakes?" he said, mockingly.

Lloyd, however, just charged ahead verbally, totally disregarding everything else but Kratos's words. "Yeah, I'll do it! This stupid system of 2 worlds stealing mana from each other has gone on far enough. I swear I'll change it!"

Kratos simply chuckled coldly. "Heh… do your best." Then, using his wings, he calmly lifted off the ground into the sky, along with Pronyma, who simply floated with along side him, but not before shooting me a look of pure loathing so intense that I half-hearted wondered if she would abuse me in the strangest ways possible if she could get me. All in all, I flipped her off in retaliation. Her face was completely livid, but she didn't slow down her ascent; On the contrary, she speeded it up, most likely trying to dream up of ways to abuse me before her head exploded in utmostly inappropriate rage. Would be nice, or maybe not…

A short silence followed. Everyone including me, even Presea, the… strange one, was looking at the quickly departing figures of Pronyma and Kratos. I was thinking about his last words. _Do your best._ From what I knew about Kratos, he rarely even thought about giving complements- Mostly, he'd just point out flaws. That had happened to me when-

_Stop!_ A voice commanded in my head. _Don't get to those memories too deeply. Just skim them. Get to deep into them, and you'll remember the others, and you know what'll happen…_

Yes. I did know. A nervous breakdown, to be exact. Something I despised. With a personal sigh to myself, I walking straight into that painful part of my life…

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd stared off at the sky for what seemed like hours at the now-departed forms of Kratos and Pronyma. He was too confused to say anything- Kratos flying off with Pronyma? Yuan the angel? And especially Kratos seemingly _encouraging_ them… Encouraging them, his enemies? What was going on? What was his true agenda, anyway?

"I remember!" Genis said suddenly. Everybody, in Lloyd's view, whirled around startled. "We saw that lady on the projector in the Asgard ranch!"

"So it means she's a Desian…" Sheena mused.

"Now that Kratos interfered and-all," Genis added, "It really looks like Cruxis and the Desians are really the same organization…" his voice trailed off. His sister spoke as well. "It would seem that Yuan is connected as well."

"Gaah!" Lloyd groaned. "This is going to make my head burst… but so in other words, they're all out enemies, right?" He glanced meaningfully around. "Yes," Raine confirmed, "We must be careful around the Renegades as well."

Lloyd groaned, thinking that now, they were hounded by the Pope, the Renegades, Cruxis, and (not really a separate organization but, still) the Desians. This wasn't turning out too well. To get his thought off the matter, he turned to Colette. But, just as he was going to ask her-

"Colette, are you back to normal? Can feel things as well as speak and stuff?"

Lloyd shot a dirty look at Genis, which the younger and smaller boy simply grinned off. "Yup, I'm okay," Colette said happily, not noticing the exchange of looks that her 2 best friends were exchanging with each other. "Thanks everyone. And I'm sorry that I worried everyone so much. Hey, you know what?" she exclaimed. "For the first time in a while, I feel hungry again!"

"That's great!" Lloyd cried. Then somehow, her wings popped out. "It looks like I still have wings though…" She smiled weakly.

All Lloyd could say was a rather stupid sounding "Oh." Zelos interrupted the conversation. His subject, of course, was, well… making Colette another lady who would fall head over heels for him. Lloyd groaned to himself when he heard Zelos; "Hmm, just as I thought. Colette looks cuter when she's smiling!" He exclaimed. Lloyd could only sigh, the hope of hearing something decent from Zelos at least once vanishing as fast as light. Meanwhile, Colette, too dimwitted for her own good, replied politely "Oh… you're… Zelos, right?"

You could almost see the hearts in the eyes of Zelos Wilder as he literally danced with joy. "Ohh! You remembered my name! We Chosen have to stick together, you know what I mean!?" "Okay!" she said enthusiastically.

"Now, where shall we go?" Raine said loudly, thankfully drowning out Zelos and his rantings of love. "Colette's regained her soul, which means we do not have to go to Sylvarant immediately. But what do we do now…?"

"We already know!" Lloyd shouted. "We're going to search for a way to save the 2 worlds without letting anymore Chosen like Colette be sacrificed!"

"I agree with Lloyd. I promised Sheena, too" Colette said, always the helping one.

"Colette…" Sheena mumbled, wondering how such a person so selfless could even _exist._

"What about Presea?" Genis said, for once not blushing when talking to or about her. "  
It's not fair to just keep dragging her around like this!"

"I… want to go home." Presea said, emotionlessly as ever.

"Oh yeah, that's right, we have to get Presea back to that Kate chick," said Zelos, for once distracted from hitting on Colette.

"Hmm…" Raine muttered. "I doubt we can use the Grand Tethe'Alla Bridge anymore…"

"I think I know a way…" Sheena said. "I've got contacts in Meltokio, let's ask them for help."

"But were're wanted traitors, so how do we get in without being sent into jail?" Genis asked.

"I know! We get caught, then we bust our way out!"

Everybody except Presea, of course, slapped their foreheads, while Colette, the dim one, looked around in confusion and asked "Why's everyone slapping themselves?"

"They'll take our weapons, idiot." Zelos said, chuckling in spite of himself. "Then how do we bust out?"

Lloyd turned a sheepish red. "I… I knew that."

"Yeah right, Lloyd…" Genis said sarcastically.

"Never fear, my hunnies!" Zelos proclaimed, with a smile the size of Meltokio on his face. "I know a secret way in! After all, I do know Meltokio like the back of my hand" he said, batting his eyebrows in a flirting manner. Lloyd couldn't help but chuckle at Sheena looking like she wanted nothing more to do but beat the living daylight out of the redhead. Zelos, of course, in his boasting, didn't notice. "Okay, Zelos," Lloyd said, ignoring the annoyed look the Chosen gave him. "We're counting on you."

Quickly regaining his pride, Zelos puffed out his chest and practically glowed with his ego. "You got it! You can always count on the great Zelos!" With that, he rushed down the mountain trail, right past spiky-haired brunette and fluttering his scarf. Kendal didn't notice that Zelos yelled "Off to Meltokio, my hunnies!" He just kept staring into the sky, lost deep in his own mind. Meanwhile, Lloyd turned to Colette. "Colette…" he said, his voice trailing off. "What's wrong, Lloyd?" the surprised blonde asked.

"Welcome back."

She giggled. "I'm glad to be."

Walking down the trail, Lloyd glanced worringly at the unmoving body of Kendal. "Should we leave him like this?" he asked Genis, who was walking beside him. "Why don't you wake him yourself- Oh."

"I don't think I will."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

**VWVWVWVWV**

"_Shut up," I growled in anger above the man that towered above me. He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Those are very bad manners, considering what I happen to be teaching you." _

"_Well, what are you, then!? Those are just regular sword skills! They won't help much, those are just for keeping myself alive!" _

"_You think?"_

"_Duh! Why don't I show you what I've developed all by myself!?" _

"_Fine then, but do not blame me if an accident happens with your… style if you wound yourself."_

"_Was that an insult!?" _

"_Stand!"_

"_Don't ignore me-! Augh, forget it…"_

_I stood, my sword already up before my body was. I faced my mentor, my eyes narrowing. _

_**You want to beat him. You want to beat him badly, and you want to do it your way. **__I said those words to myself in an attempt to psyche myself up. Both of us raised our 'swords,' really nothing more than wooden poles with stiff leather 'hilts' attached. I settled into the stance I had been developing for the last month or so. Swinging my… sword to my front, I turned my side towards my mentor. My mentor with auburn hair and purple armor…_

I snapped out of my revere and looked around. The sun had already begun to set, lighting up the skyline into a fiery orange, and the others had gone. Was it a dream…? No, the battle scars were painfully visible in the rock of the mountain top. So, where were they?

A loud yell of "RAGING BEAST!" caught my attention. I rushed over to the side of the mountaintop and almost fell headfirst off it; Not a good idea, anyday. From where I could see, I could make out around some 15 forms in the dust of the mountain trails, duking it out. I saw the blue silhouette of a lion's head, and knew immediately it was Lloyd- It was impossible to misplace him in a crowd if he did that.

I just watched them do what they did best- Battle, create mayhem, battle, mayhem, repeat. And repeat till enemy or enemies are dead. Now, it seemed to be working…

"HELL PYRE!" I saw a certain redhead slash and go upwards along with his enemy and send a ball of fire out which drove his opponent, a zombie, to the ground into a scorched, now dead heap-

Wait a minute, monsters? I knew that hares, night raids, egg bears, and bandits often attacked people, but that was just them being territorial, or in the case of bandits just to rob people of their belongings. Then I realized what Kratos had said was true- Tethe'Alla was still enjoying prosperity, but now a semi-mana shortage had created monsters. Same in Sylvarant, the dying world, which apparently had monsters everywhere thanks to its state of extreme mana deprivation. Maybe now there wouldn't be as much, but there still would be a lot, since right now both world had an equal amount of mana to share between them thanks to the releasing of seals in Sylvarant…

"STARDUST CROSS!" I heard a female voice yell, and I saw a bunch of stars rain of unlucky enemies as well as a glitter of wings- That had to be Colette.

I sighed, then turned and ran down the trailhead. Yes, I ran, kicking up dust and almost tripping and such. Sure, perhaps it was risky, but I loved running down high places, going down at manic speeds almost impossible on flat ground, and letting gravity do most of the work so I could go down without even exhausting myself. It was great to feel the wind going past me at high speeds cooling anyone off, even during humid days…

Soon, I rounded a corner, and what dija know, I see the gang still fighting the group of undead people. Without stopping, I drew my cleaver and tackled one particularly deadly looking monster that was wielding a battle axe, tacking it down. Roaring, the monster thrashed on the ground, forcing me to go completely over my head and behind it. As it tried to sit up, I sat up first (Good thing I had my special exsphere) and whipped my arm around, slashing its head off and creating a shower of greenish blood.

I got up from the ground completely, and look, I'm the center of the spot light again. Chimeras, demons, zombies, half-elves, humans, and ghosts- They were all looking at me like I was something so strange and had appeared so fast their brains (for the undead, rotted brains) simply ground to a stop. Taking advantage of the distraction, I swept out the legs of a zombie right next to me- I had no intention of being next a smelly dead guy. Okay, the thing wasn't smelly, I think, but…

Giving the now-downed body of the zombie and expertly-aimed kick to the neck, I then jumped and slashed off the head of a dumbstruck chimera. Then, as they FINALLY showed signs that they were alive again, I stabbed another demon and went ahead and cut off the head of another, finishing a last, unresponsive, unconsciously drooling chimera with a yell of "Dominating Blade!" sending the unlucky beast right off the mountain with a gold-colored shockwave.

"Um…" A voice said meekly behind me. I turned, and look, it's the blonde, formerly soulless girl known as Colette by the others looking all goggle-eyed up at me.

"What?" I asked, swinging my blade up into the sheath on my back.

"Th-that was really cool!" She burst out, and then ran away. I guess she was frightened of me, even though she had only been conscious for the past what, hour? 30 minutes? I guess anybody who saw what I did would be frightened…

_**The base of the Fooji mountains**_

We somehow managed to get down from the stupid mountains without encountering anymore dead… things. Zombies. Demons. Chimeras. The like.

"So, where to now?" I turned around and asked them. They stared at me.

"Weren't you listening on the mountaintop?" Sheena said indignantly. "We're going to Meltokio!"

"Yeah, well I wasn't. I was in a trance. Er, duh?"

The lavender-haired ninja could only let out an "humph" and turned away. I heard chuckling to her right. I turned, and who else might it be but the so-called 'great' Zelos Wilder hucking in amusement while I was trying to figure out what had made her angry. "What?" I asked him, as I was running through the list of possibilities why Sheena might be angry at him.

"Oh, nothing," Zelos said, for once not noticing my eyes were on him like I was a hunter (Which I was, sometimes) and he was the prey. Well they were always like that, derived from about a thousand years of experience on what matters for surviving. "It's just that" he continued, chuckling again, "that I thought Sheena was going to abuse you with her big boobs-"

"**ZELOS WILDER! DID I JUST HEAR WHAT I THOUGHT YOU JUST SAID ABOUT ME?" **

I couldn't resist laughing heartily at the fact that Zelos was getting abused, but not by Sheena using her… _appendages_ but her hands in a slugfest of absolute fury. Well, her hands were appendages as well, but there's no other ways to name those… _things_ without resorting to the word I just used right now, or of course the formal, or the informal way. Preferably, I wouldn't say it at all.

* * *

Me: And that's that! Aw, here comes Zelos again, and- LOOK! ZELOS IS CRYING!

Zelos: Shut up! (drags me in a corner) WHY ARE YOU ABUSING MY IN THIS FANFIC WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!

Me: Stop your why why why why whying!

Zelos: I won't my hunnies need me! All women are my hunnies!

Me: Sheena isn't...

Zelos: SHEENA IS MY HUNNIE! YOU JUST WATCH AND SEE HER FALL HEAD-OVER-HEELS IN LOVE WITH ME!

Sheena: (cracks knuckles) Zelos (deadly voice) did you just say what I think you said?

Kendal: Yes he did. (points to Zelos) He said you were his hunny. (scurries away)

Zelos: AND IT'S TRUE, MY HUNNIE! RIGHT???

Everyone minus Sheena: SHUT UP!

Sheena: YES, SHUT UP AND DIE, YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR YOU SEX MACHINE! I CALL UPON THE RULER OF HELLFIRE, THE SPIRIT OF FIRE, COME, EFREET!

Zelos: NOOOO!!!

Kendal/Me: (staring at the pile of ashes that was once Zelos) Fireworks... Ohhh...


	14. Sewer chaos

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my limbs and the band-aid, but that's in the trash because I threw it away yesterday.

Kendal: Like you ever will own anything…

Me: I will in a few years!

Kendal: Like, what…?

Me: I'm not psychic.

Kendal: I am, you'll own… NOTHING IN THE FUTURE! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Me: (mauls) YOU CAN'T PREDICT THE FUTURE!

Kendal: Ow! Yes I- Ow- can! I have the Future Stone!

Me: Er, that's for getting the Sacred Stone and nothing else? Right?

Kendal: Craaaaap… And it said here that a guy named- GEORGE BUSH? WHO THE HELL IS HE???

Me: (shuffles away)

* * *

I couldn't help but notice the change in air as the whole party walked back to Meltokio. Well, I was on foot, but I ran, the rest were wheezing heckishly in order to keep up. Even the… dog of the group was panting as he tried to keep up. The green one, the pet of Lloyd, Noishe. And that was saying something. 

"Slow… down… wi…ll you… please…" Lloyd wheezed as he put on a burst of strength to catch up with me. "No thanks" I said, the words flow easily despite the fact the I was pumping the ground so hard that I could hear pebbles tremble at the force of my feet.

The atmosphere of the Tethe'Allan countryside had always been serene, even when bandits attacked. It was the only place you could see true sunrises and sunsets without being obstructed by building. The mountains sure as hell added beauty to the place as well- Whenever the sun dipped behind the mountains, or mountain, a halo of purple surrounded it, like it was heavenly.

Now though, I couldn't help but shiver slightly at the new psychological feeling of coldness due to the first appearances of monsters in Tethe'Alla. I mean, I had already seen a gaggle of ghosts and zombies a few miles away, but we had steered waaaaaaay clear of them. Who wanted to get in a tangle with ghosts? I would, but the little kid, Genis, started shivering the moment he saw them, so the entire group went at least a mile away to get Genis to stop shivering and (only I noticed) getting goosebumps.

What a pathetic little kiddy. I bet he'd fought them in Sylvarant, now that that piece of information concerning just where they were from was confirmed, but why was he scared of them now?

_**Dusk**_

The main gate of Meltokio finally became visible over the horizon. I spat the saliva that had built in my mouth since the beginning of the run to Meltokio. Well, my run. I stopped, sat on a rock, and finally looked out at the horizon at the small figures who looked like they were limping, limping, and limping all the way to here and shouldn't have even tried to in the first place.

Too bad for them. They didn't have blood of a, er, super-race like me, and even more horrid for them, they didn't have exactly insane amounts of endurance given from a thousand years of taking pain and impromptu exercise, such as running like hell from a drake.

Okay, I won't elaborate, but… It was gang of drakes.

After a restless 10 minutes of waiting, they finally caught up to me. They were all in horrid states of mental and physical exhaustion, given that they had been forced to run 15 miles and even more so as I had run much faster than them, prompting them to try and catch up with me. It didn't work, obviously.

When the staggering, wheezing, panting, smelly group finally reached me, they practically collapsed on each other, barely moving. I could see that they were all in the worst state they could ever physically be in- While they weren't bloody, I could see numerous bruises from where they had fallen, and dirty was splattered all over their faces, giving the impression that they were dark-skinned from a distance, or perhaps to the dumb ones, they might be golems or something.

I raised an eyebrow at them. "How'd you get all dirty?"

"You… were spraying dust… in our faces…" Lloyd managed to wheeze out before collapsing in a coughing fit. I could only shake my head while I backed away and prepared to, er, clean them. Step one. Cross your forearms across chest. Step 2. Force mana into them. Just like in Sybak. Then prepare to release.

"What are trying to do-" A certain miniature half-elf mumbled, but before he could say anything else…

"**Aquatic implosion!**" Before they could say or do a single thing, water appeared out of nowhere and smashed itself into a ball before imploding as the name of the spell suggested, raining a down a torrential amount of cold, clear water that, while soaking them thoroughly, washed every trace of dirt on them away.

They all stared at me in surprise. In particular, Genis, Mr. Spellcaster, was looking at me with something close to awe.

"How did you do that?" he mouthed, apparently losing his voice when the water showered on him. I shrugged, nonchalant.

_**In an hour**_

I had to admit, I was hungry, and thirsty. Well, not anymore at least. For a kid that was only 3 and a half feet tall, Genis was a surprisingly good cook. Especially since his dish that he was cooking, Risotto, was the last thing I thought I'd be eating, because I only saw the recipe as something the royal cooks- and the Wonder Chef, and dark chefs, and the like- knew how to make it. They must have encountered the Wonder Chef or something.

I laid back on a rock, letting the food settle down in my stomach. The others kept throwing rather envious looks at me. Swordsman, magician. Well, Zelos was both, as well, but he didn't have my skills, did he?

"So," I said calmly, "should we go in?"

I was met with a resounding "NO!"

Expected, since it was already mostly dark, and there were now patrols around. So…

_**The next day**_

Well, it was hard to blame them. Here's another reason they wanted to rest- I had run them down to hell and back again. Well, they couldn't blame me for being, well, better than them. I could have never controlled who I was, or the situations that gave such strenuous exercise. Like the gang of drakes.

"So, how do we get in?" I glanced at Zelos for an answer.

He puffed out his chest proudly. "Now, now, just hang in there. I told you, leave it too me. For my cute hunnies, I'll show you all a special entrance."

Cute hunnies, cute hunnies, cute hunnies. Couldn't he just plug up the crap and let us get the hell into Meltokio already? Ugh.

_**Later…**_

I raised an eyebrow. Well, I had to. It was, well….

The sewers.

I turned to Zelos with my eyebrows still raised. "This is your special way in?" I said skeptically.

"Of course!" He said it with pride.

Lloyd spoke up. "This is a pretty good way in." I groaned loudly and obviously. "Hey!" Zelos said, looking puzzled. "What are you groaning for?"

"I. Know. This. Place. Every. Rouge. Person. Or. Criminal. Knows. This. Way. In. Happy?"

Everyone stared at me. I stared back, to the point where I was pretty much glaring at them. "Well, hell, I'm wanted!" Do you think I can just vault over most walls? Well I could climb up them, that's what I usually do" –I was referring to how I got in 3 days ago, up the wall with my daggers- "But sheesh, you think I wouldn't leave myself with a backup plan? Well?"

They looked away.

"And besides" I said, rolling my eyes "Now there's monsters to worry about in there now."

That got the attention of everyone.

"No, I can't get each of you guys over the wall. We really do have to go through this stupid stinkhole of ultimate doom." I threw up my hands up in a mock show of despair. As if on cue, "Enemy presence detected. There is danger." Presea said in a monotone that suggested that she was quite possibly a member of the living dead.

"See?" I said in a jaunty tone, and walked straight in.

_**Inside**_

I actually had no idea where to go in this place, considering that I never actually had any…. Er, buddies to get into Meltokio with. It was slightly funny to me, considering that all I ever had to do was scramble up a stupid stone wall to get in, but now I had to go through some smelly sewers in order to get in. Ironic. Me, the freedom lover now-stuck-in-the-deep-bowels of the earth. Albeit the very wet earth.

I looked around. Smelly, but only slightly- This was much better than what I had been expecting of some freaking _sewers_ for heavens sake, sewers.

"So, where to?" I asked over my shoulder. He looked at me with a mixture of confusion and outrage.

"You acted as if you knew this place so good so could even practically destroy me when it came to navigating this place!"

"I never said that."

"You sure as hell acted like it!" That was Genis.

"Well, too bad, I didn't say anything, just that there were monsters. So damn, lets get the hell out of here, okay?"

After general amounts of grumbling and a lot of dirty looks, we passed a line of blue, shining tiles. I glanced down at them with a raised eyebrow, but Zelos, obsessed as always to impressing his hunnies when it came to paying attention to important things was no help at all. So, I kicked him in the shin while he was elaborating to Colette about his exploits as a womanizer.

"So, I led her to my house, I can tell you my little angel, she had fallen head over heels for me- OW! What did you do that for you-"

I cut him off. "What the hell are those tiles there for?" I asked loudly. Despite his yowling, I dragged him over to a tile that I had noticed as we walked further in. It seemed like these blue things were scattered all over the place. I pointed at one just right next to me. He shrugged. "Why should I know? The sewers might've have been renovated or something, I heard construction was going on in here a few months ago. Besides, I haven't been in here for a year, anyway." He sauntered off to Colette, seeking to impress and potentially woo her, if Lloyd hadn't exclaimed "What is one of these altars doing here!?"

I looked, and yes, there's an altar. But there's something strange about it, namely the fact that a ball of light is in it, seemingly unsupported by anything visible, or was it magical or something? Before I could raise a single question about what the heck that thing was, Lloyd, always the do-first-and-think-later guy went ahead and yelled "Hi-yah!"

Suddenly, a circle of silver light extended slowly until it was enclosing everybody except me, who was right outside of the circle of light. Well, it wasn't exactly big, but it was just enough to enclose them, and then…

_Pop!_

I blinked. The circle had disappeared. And now, the rest of them had somehow vanished which wasn't exactly a good thing, I guessed…

I heard squeaking below me. I sighed, already thinking it was a mouse…

I looked down and almost roared very offensive words out at deafening volumes.

Everybody had somehow shrunk to an inch high. Even as I watched, amazed, they walked around, squeaking out yelps of surprise in extremely high tones. Perhaps given from their shortness, which resulted in shrunken (dramatically) larynxes, A.K.A. voice boxes or as "thingies that let people speak at all" resulting in what would seem to me super high-pitched tones. Of course, given their eardrums would have also shrunk proportionally, they'd think that whoever yelled would be speaking normally. So…

I spoke tentatively. "Can you hear me?" I was going to bet that they might not even understand me as because they had shrunken eardrums they'd think I had a _very_ low voice. Thankfully, no. They yelled up back to me (At least, it looked like they were) in high-pitched voices (extremely misleading, of course):

"Yes, but your voice sounds so low!"

"And your voices sound so high!" I shot back down at them. Then, I noticed a movement to my right-

_Pop!_

The Professor, Miss Raine Sage appeared, thankfully restored to full size. I raised an eyebrow but immediately lowered it when I saw the blue tile that she was standing on. Of course.

"So they restore back to a person their full size…" I muttered in surprise.

Soon, the others, getting the idea, they all ran up to the tile and wha-la, with a few pops they were all back to normal size, all shooting looks of amazement (including Lloyd) at the rather plain-looking ring on Lloyd's index finger. "S-so," Lloyd began shakily. "What's it for?"

Just then, I noticed a spider web conveniently placed right next to a set of stairs. "That" I said, pointing. They all looked at me. "What?" Sheena said, confused. "What does a spider web have to do with any-"

Then it finally hit them. I could see quite plainly the surprise on their faces, but I said it aloud anyway. "This part of the sewers is a dead end. We must cross. Any questions?"

Nobody spoke as we walked over to the ridiculously long web.

I simply took a running leap with theatrics (I roared "RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!) and landed, somewhere around about 10 feet, landing easily. I looked back. In the dim lights of the sewer, I could just barely make out the tiny figures of the others gripping at the membranes of the long-deserted web (it seemed). That was saying something, since there were only 5 torches and they were on the other side of this part of the sewers, and the gang was about 10 feet away from me. All a tribute to my blood and my exsphere.

I waited impatiently as the others finally managed to cross the web, in which thereafter they ran (to me, it looked like they were waddling) to a blue tile conveniently placed there. Finally, they had made it to the other side.

"Well?" I demanded as each one of them stopped to catch their breath from their ordeal. "Are we going to stand here all day?" I promptly marched off leaving them far behind me when they even began to move again at all. By then I was examining a locked door.

"Hey Zelos" I called over my shoulder. I didn't bother turning around, I knew I'd just be confronted with another dirty look. I was famous for being a dirty look magnet, huh? "What?" he growled. Then, he spotted the object of my question. I think. I turned around to see him looking at the ground, kicking at some soggy moss and looking quite sheepish.

Everyone stared at him. Finally, he broke the silence. "Uh, well… I didn't know that this door was locked." He looked up, and, upon seeing everyone staring at him with a look of disgust, "I didn't know that this door would be locked, I mean, it always wasn't whenever I came through here!" he snapped defensively.

"Then, let's find a way to open it, obviously," I said, rolling my eyes.

_**At the end of the sewers**_

"Finally," I sighed, as we entered what was now confirmed as the last stretch in the Meltokio sewers. I saw a circle of light shinning down through the edges of what I guessed to be a manhole. _Damn,_ I thought to myself, _who knew we had to fight poisonous rats, vipers, huge slugs, and the insane and corrupted monsters of the sea?_ Well, that wasn't your everyday experience, was it?

I walked down a set of steps and realized that the metal ladder that led up to sunlight, the surface, and downright freedom was at the other side of a river of _really_ smelly sewage, and there was no apparent way to cross it.

"Damn," I growled as we passed underneath a slab of stone. "I guess I could leap across- Well, even I _definitely _wouldn't be able to, but what about you guys?" I snorted at the thought.

"Hey!" Lloyd protested. I shook my head and shrugged. "Well, that's the truth. Have you got a better…. Way…." My voice trailed off as I spotted something interesting.

"Well, my hunnies," Zelos proclaimed smugly as he sauntered over "That stone slab back there" he jabbed a finger at it "Used to be the way of crossing over. But I think it collapsed when construction was going on- Hey, what are you looking at?"

He had noticed me staring very intently on a rather tiny flat path under the waterfall. Finally. I poked my head under the waterfall of sewage. The ledge seemed to be going all the way to the other side of the river, but the path was too tiny to have been able to be used by anyone for crossing the smelly river, even children, so what…?

I stood up suddenly, earning multiple yelps from people who had been wondering if I had gone into shock, a seizure, or maybe I was dead or something. I quickly ripped off the ring that I had seen everybody look at when everyone had first been shrunk. Before Lloyd could yelp out in surprise, I had squeezed it like I had seen when I had first seen them use it, and…

_Pop!_

The familiar silver circle of mana. What I didn't expect was that, one moment, I was around 6 feet tall, and now, I'm about an inch tall. Everyone else was shortened as well, and suddenly I was feeling very diminished, like I was facing somebody that was at least 10 times my size. I had never experienced this, so I almost feel straight on my face in shock. I heard Lloyd yell "What did you do that for!?" in what seemed his regular voice, so I knew my theory about eardrums and larynxes were true, so I immediately marched off to the path. Soon, everyone else, discovering that I had found out just how to get the hell out of this place, followed me hastily.

_**On the other side, in 15 minutes**_

"That took forever" I groaned as we stepped on a row of tiles. It felt great to be able to get to be a normal-sized person again, even if being small had its benefits. Namely, nobody or no_thing_ will notice you, save sewer rats, were much easier than bigger enemies- For me, a few yells of "Dominating Blade!" were enough to finish them.

"Look who's talking" Sheena grumbled behind me as I resumed my rapid pace of walking. I was about to respond when…

I heard something. A scratch. I immediately stiffened my entire body. I heard shouts of protest from Lloyd who had been tailing me the best he could, and had now just plain bounced off of my back. I wasn't even bothering, focusing on where that sound had come from…

I looked up. A bit of dirt fell on my nose, which I quickly brushed off. I knew that somebody from above had shaken loose that bit of dirt, but who…?

I saw movement above me, and quickly hopped back as around 5 gray-clad figures hopped downwards, landing in or around the spot I was on only moments before. I did a quick recount. There were actually 7 of them. They immediately stood up, displaying exspheres with Key Crests, and brandished clubs. On closer note and examination revealed that the clubs were made of oak and covered with a lump of metal, perfect for bashing a person's brain out. Somebody had supplied them for this job, and judging what they were doing currently, brandishing their clubs, their job was killing us.

Definitely not ideal for us.

Finally, after a minute or so of silence, a bald guy that seemed to be the leader stepped forward and rasped out "We've been waiting for you, travelers of Sylvarant."

_So these guys were the ones that had us do all those getting small and so and such things…_ I muttered to myself. Then, another of these guys continued. "We've got nothing against you personally, but the pope promised to lighten our sentences."

Ah. Convicts. "So, in this filthy little hellhole, you must die!" Another one chimed in. They all raised their clubs and began stalking forward.

I sighed, then I stepped in front of the group. "I don't think it's in our best interests. If you want, we could force the pope to lighten your sentences."

That got the convicts, who were now furiously whispering among them. I hissed behind me. "Do you suppose we should charge them and get the hell out of here?" Lloyd answered. "No, let them think. I mean, most likely you could force the pope to lighten their sentences, so let them consider what you proposed."

It didn't take long. They turned and promptly said a resounding "No" after only 15 seconds of discussion.

"Well, that didn't work" I sighed loudly. Then, spinning out my cleaver, I raised it over my head.

"Dominating Edge!"

This time, I slashed an entire 180 degrees in front of me, creating a huge gold shockwave that was somewhere around 8 feet long. As usual, it was gold. 3 of the convicts were caught up in the shockwave and sent flying into the ranks of the others who had managed to backstep it, therefore knocking all of our little group's enemies down.

"So," I said turning around lazily. "Wanna finish the job?"

They blinked, then they each whipped out their weapons. Lloyd, Kotetsu, Sheena, Card of Lightning, Genis, Thunderbolt, Raine, Ruby Wand, Zelos, Aqua Brand, Presea, Great Ax. Then Lloyd, Sheena, Zelos, Presea, and the one and only me rushed in, leaving Genis and Raine to kick some filthy convicted ass magical style.

I decided to take on 3 of them at once, as the others mostly could only take on one at a time- Not good if they get surrounded. So, I decided to get sacrificial and all and began by taunting the 3 that I had blasted away at the beginning. "C'mon, idiots" I taunted. "What, you gonna get your asses kicked by a kid today?"

That did it.

With extremely loud roars of rage, they all launched themselves at me. I easily sidestepped them, coolly taking a quick swing at their sides as they flew by my, clubs raised. I could have sliced through them all, but that wouldn't exactly be any fun, would it?

They got up from where they had tumbled as a result of my side-slashing quickly. Now, in the dim light of the sewer, they were very alert, I figured, since now they knew that they were up against something special, since 2 of them had gigantic and deep gashes in their sides. Somebody, that is. Somebody.

They slowly spread out and began circling me. Ah, yes, of course. Surround, distract with one guy, the 2 others finish the job. Like hell that was gonna work on me. I waited, while the yells of battle were going on behind me. In the meantime….

As they slowly surrounded me, I used the pause in the action to my advantage and crossed my arms in front of my chest indiscreetly, hoping that at least they'd take the side of caution and wait for me to make a move…

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd grunted as he pulled off a demon fang at a convict who had been unlucky enough to know that back stepping would not help in dodging the attacks of Lloyd Irving. The convict was forced to stagger back, as Lloyd pressed his advantage with a "Sonic Thrust!" The thrust made a screeching noise as the convict/would-be assassin was blasted backwards and into a wall, where the unlucky criminal slumped there, temporarily dazed.

Lloyd glanced around. By sheer power, Presea was beating down a convict that was about twice her height. Zelos was yelling constantly "Lightning Blade!" and shocking his convicted opponent, who was now staggering and twitching as static electricity jumped visibly from one spot on what Lloyd supposed were woolen clothes to another. Else where, Sheena was doing well to keep her attacker from even getting a hit on her at all- She was constantly ducking and jumping gracefully, given that she was a ninja, and filling up the criminal's portfolio of wounds, now taking its toll on the opponent she was facing, as his movement slowed from the pain. Genis was pouring out Freezer Lancers at a manic pace as a mangly-looking convict was charging at the Sage siblings, repelled again and again with huge skies of ice imbedded into his skin, his loud cursing heard through out the area, while Raine constantly peppered the attackers with Photon spells.

Finally, Lloyd looked over that the last member of the party, and what he saw totally amazed him. Even though the whole place was going down into chaos, he saw a corner of the battlefield that was plain serene.

But it was a dangerous type of serenity. The situation was that 3 convicts were surrounding one boy that seemed to be lost in a trance, with his forearms crossed over his chest and with a sword, more like a cleaver –_Yes, that has to be it,_ Lloyd thought- being held in his right hand as it was crossed over his chest. What was Kendal doing…?

Lloyd took a step near the circle of the 3 convicts. He could see a huge gash in the sides of 2 of them, and knew that somehow, Kendal had managed to wound them _very_ badly- Badly enough to see that the 2 slashed were limping and wincing constantly. Lloyd shook his head in amazement. It had taken him about 10 seconds to even wound the one that he had faced, but Kendal had done that much faster and to more people. What was going on? Then he saw the crossed arms, and he remembered with a shock yesterday's group soaking that Kendal had been the perpetrator of...

He backed away.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I raised my arms with a sudden outward motion, startling everyone around me. Then, I pressed them to the earth, willing the mana to enter the stone.

"Grave… WAVE!"

The familiar spikes erupted all around me with a loud grinding noise, getting everybody's attention as rock spikes blasted upwards in rings around me, even going into the water, where the spikes blasted upwards, creating the impression that geysers had just erupted. Finally, after 10 seconds, in which I promptly half-blasted away the stairs to the manhole, I lifted my arms, feeling no exhaustion. Typical. Same as Sybak. I had never felt exhaustion doing this spell, or maybe it was just an illusion, or perhaps it was because that the spikes were rather short (even though I swore they were as sharp as, say, a blunt knife, and when they blast out of the earth at insane speeds, that's saying something). Even though they blasted out of the earth at high speed, I guessed a _long_ time ago- Give or take some 800 years ago, after decades of attempting to perfect it- That was, I had hypothesized, that it was because I had pushed mana so fast into the ground, that out of sheer pressure the small rocky spires had jabbed up so fast. Who cared though? When the end result is achieved, whatever you gave up to get there becomes insignificant.

I stood up. As the spikes receded, leaving shattered stones in their wake, I saw the mangled and burst-open bodies of the 3 convicts who had tried to give me the whack. Definitely from the spires. I tilted my head up away from the dead ones to observe the others.

Well, they were all staring at me like I was a demon or something, Genis in particular as I turned my head. "Whaaaaat?" I snapped, annoyed.

The others looked away instantly, but the convicts began backing away. Quickly.

That's when another convict somehow leaped from the ruined stone staircase, devastated courtesy of me and my Grave Wave spell, and who must have found out the only way to dodge it, flew out of the cracked railing on top of, well, who-do-you know, Zelos.

"Don't move." The bluenette, now that I had noticed, spoke. "Or the Chosen dies."

Apparently, Zelos was still thinking that he had some damn authority around Meltokio, because he began brawling, with fake tears streaming down his face a bit. "H-hey! You can't do this to the Chosen!"

"One who plans the destruction of the world can no longer be deemed the Chosen." The bluenette retorted. Zelos then decided that since his fake tears tactic wouldn't work on this guy…

"Hey Lloyd!" he called out. "If I die here, I swear I'll haunt you for the rest of your life!"

God, that was dirty. Well, apparently, it didn't work, because Lloyd uttered a sarcastic "I just had a sudden urge to abandon you."

Well, Lloyd shouldn't have even bothered, considering the fact that now, the guy had just noticed Presea. Well, her exsphere. "You're a victim too!?" the guy growled, his hands reaching for the exsphere on her collarbone. Unfortunately, he didn't get there. The little girl's hand shot out with amazing speed and whacked his hand away- It was lucky that the guy had an exsphere on- If he hadn't gotten the hand out of the way, I just might have seen a broken hand come into being, even if it was strengthened by an exsphere.

"Presea's in danger!" Genis yelled, now confirming my guess that Genis had a huge crush on Presea, and, yelling "Fireball!" he sent a flotilla of them straight at the convict.

The convict _somehow _managed to throw himself out of the way of 3 fast-moving fireballs, which was something in itself, since those fireballs were supported with speed from Genis's rage. All the while, Zelos quickly ran behind Lloyd, grabbing his shoulder as if he would never let go.

"Ugh.. Retreat for now!" The convict mumbled as he and the other surviving convicts rushed away, one of them muttering "Ugh… too strong…" They hopped up the manhole, going out of there at insane speeds even though everybody save the bluenette was injured in someway.

Finally, silence returned to the sewers, and, as a result, I finally snapped back to myself. Quickly, I hurried up the ruined staircase, careful not to step into any of the ruined potholes that I had incidentally created.

I leaped over the huge gap that I had smashed open, and ran over to the rungs before looking back. I could see the others _finally_ come up the stairs to the gapping hole. Now, they were staring at me accusingly, their faces beaming a loud and clear "How the hell are we gonna up this?" Only Colette, didn't complain, she simply flew the gap.

I sighed. I was going to have a lot of work to do. Namely, by grabbing each and every person that was still on the other side and jumping them over the gap. Poor them. They were going to have the literal ride of their life.

* * *

YES! YES! YES! A 5000 word chapter! Utter ownage! W00t! 

Kendal: That's nothing to be proud of.

Me: You try typing it! (jams Kendal into computer chair)

Kendal: (sweatdrop) How does this thing work...? (presses bunch of keys)

Computer: (flashing red screen) SYSTEM SHUTDOWN. EMERGENCY. SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IN PROGRESS.

Me: **DAMN YOU! LOOK WHAT YOU DID, YOU CRASHED IT, YOU SONUVA-**

Kendal: **YOU MADE ME TYPE SOMETHING ON THIS STUPID MAGITECHNOLOGY MACHINE, HAVE YOU NOTICED? WELL?**

Me: **THIS IS NOT MAGITECHNOLOGY!!!**

Oh, adn the thing in the beginning was a George Bush spoof. XD**  
**


	15. Illegal smuggling NOT!

Ugh. That's all I can say. Ugh. The people on this site never like to review anything but the huge stories huh?

Kendal: Man, you sound sad…

Me: Because I am.

Kendal: Hey, that sounds a bit like me…

Me: (begins to stalk forward)

Kendal: (backs away) Hey, hey, hey, I didn't mean anything! I mean, hey, I don't like people who don't review, but, you don't have to blow up about it-

Me: I CAN CUZ IT'S BEEN 14 AND NOW 15 CHAPTERS BUT LIKE ONLY 10 PEOPLE REVIEWED! THESE PEOPLE ARE SO CRUEL AND IGNORANT AND (goes on and on)

Kendal: (silently sneaks away from ranting)

* * *

When I finally got them all across (After some semi-fainting and such) I walked to the metal rungs that led up to the surface, sunlight, and freedom. Well, I was free here, but at the very least the surface was light, I hated dark, damp places like this. 

I easily pulled myself up lithely to the top rung, where I shoved my hand upwards. The manhole cover creaked, causing me to wince at the prospect of us being noticed as we streamed out of a literal, well, hole, but as its underside tilted, I could hear no shouts of surprise from the surface. I shoved the manhole cover up, hard- The cover drunkenly flew up, exposing my eyes to the glaring daylight. I almost let go of the ladder, I was having something close to a seizure, the daylight was so… contrasting to the darkness I had gotten used to over the course of what, 5 hours? 6? 7? From what I could tell, it was the afternoon, since the sun was now shaded slightly golden in addition to its regular shade of white.

_Clang._

The loud sound created from the bashing of metal on rock was enough to make me scramble like hell through the opening, even though my eyes still hadn't ever recovered half of their vision. I knew that this was the park- I could just barely make out benches to my right, prompting me turn blindly around to look for somewhere to hide, if someone came here and saw me now-

_No,_ I said to myself sternly, _stop being paranoid._ I had no good reason to. Nobody was around, now that my vision was completely back to its full and insane abilities, and I could hear any conversation from around the corner. Which meant all was well and I was having a case of really bad paranoia.

I turned to the manhole, and as I looked down, I could barely make out the figure of Lloyd slowly crawling up from the underside of Meltokio (I had lost my main ability to see in the dark now that my eyes had adjusted to light). Slowly, antagonizingly slow.

Lloyd finally crawled out, while I furiously glanced around, sometimes ditching that approach entirely and going with my ears, but never stopped being alert. I knew that the others as they slowly crawled out the pit and blinked away the sunlight's blinding glare that they were looking at me in a quizzical manner. Finally, Presea crawled out. The moment her boots were out of the manhole I jumped over to the cover, seized it, then furiously jammed it onto the manhole.

Everyone looked at me with shock at my sudden movements again, save Presea, who was now resorting to what she usually did when there were no monsters or "threats" around, staring off into somewhere I had no idea of knowing. I looked over at Sheena, who was now adjusting the pink bow on her back. "So, where are your… _contacts?_" I asked.

She perked up. "Oh, they're at the Elemental Research Laboratory" she said, earning a groan from me. A loud, meaningful one. "Wh-what?" She said, flustered instantly. Strange, I groan at her and she thinks that I find some sort of kink in her plan. I'd just ask nicely if somebody groaned, or rather other people would; I'd give who ever did such an act of rudeness or ignorance my death stare and sooner or later, perhaps after they soiled their undergarments, they'd tell. But she got flustered this easily…? What's her deal?

"I'm not insulting your plan." I said, earning me a quizzical look from Sheena, though her face showed relief. "It's just that if I go there, I'll get mobbed by the scientists."

"Why?" Sheena said, confused. "I never heard them say anything bad about anybody, I've been with them for a long time- Wait." She said, narrowing her eyes. "I did hear them say something about a guy who stole something from them-"

"True," I interrupted, "But this was 5 years ago. When everyone around me was one bit younger. I went ahead and stole something from them. If you're really going, there I'll just wait for you at the café where I first saw you guys. If you manage to find a way to go where ever you want to go."

"At _that _dump?" Zelos gagged. "Why in the world would you go there?"

"Because anywhere else, I'd get snitched on" I retorted. "You have a better idea?"

"Of course!" he puffed out his chest proudly. "The great, intelligent, and beautiful Zelos will show you that he knows Meltokio like the back of his hand-"

"You're not intelligent, you sound like an idiot right now."

Zelos turned red in the face while Sheena giggled wildly. "How dare you-!"

"Be quiet, and tell me where you propose I wait" I snapped, cutting him off. "Because if you don't, then why the hell aren't you guys, and me included, moving? Well?" I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and you can't order me around anymore, _Chosen_" I said mockingly "because if you haven't noticed, the pope just killed your rights as a Chosen, _Chosen_, so you can't order me around now, can ya?"

A short silence followed, while Zelos struggled to (It looked like) constrain himself from attempting to leap on me, because I knew that he knew just what I could do to people. Especially when people jump on me. Finally, he spoke, even though it was through gritted teeth. "I propose… you wait… on… the roof… of my house." He growled.

I raised an eyebrow. "That's actually a good idea, for once" I mused. "Especially for a guy who acts like an idiot a whole lot." Then, I ran to a wall, away from Zelos who was currently screaming bloody murder, leaped on to it, and latched on to the wall halfway above the ground with my daggers, which I had gotten out in a flash while I had been doing my leaping act. "See you at the area of stupid rich snobs" I called over my shoulder, and crawled up the wall like a spider, albeit like a fast, jumpy one, hopped over the rim of the top of the building, and ran out of the sight of the others.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Sheena slowly turned back at the others. "Okay, so what was that about?"

They all shook their heads, but Zelos wasn't among them- He had run over to the wall, and, ridiculously enough, was now trying to climb it, screaming furiously up the wall.

Sheena giggled again. Kendal really was a bright spot when it came to handling Zelos, wasn't he?

**VWVWVWVWV**

I had no trouble finding the homes of the idiot rich people. If Zelos could jump up walls like me, I could show him that _I _knew Meltokio better than him, most likely better than anyone. Well, somebody who's lived at least a thousand years older than him will definitely have more experience when it comes to remembering the layout of some stupid city, right?

I lithely landed on top of the Wilder mansion, hopefully lithely enough to have not alerted the butler of the Wilders- rather, the sole Wilder. I knew exactly what had happened to the rest of them. It was tragic, but nowhere as tragic as my own past, I downright sure as that. Hopefully. _Idiot, a tragic past is nothing to be proud of- More like a reason or something to justify torturing yourself._

I left thinking about it at that remark made by the one and only me.

_**The Elemental Research Facility**_

"This is it?" Lloyd asked, incredulous. Because, from what he could see, the laboratory was part of the wall itself. More accurately, he wouldn't have known that there was a laboratory there at all had there been a door, but he wouldn't have a damned clue of what the building was for is Sheena hadn't identified it. Because, the laboratory appeared to be within the walls of Meltokio's second level elevation. Amazingly.

"Yep!" Zelos said gallantly. Sheena resisted a sigh. Why did Kendal have to be wanted and so and such? He seemed to bet the best anti-Zelos Wilder medicine there was. "I'll lead the way for my cute hunnies!"

And with that, he promptly dragged Colette, Presea, and Sheena (Even though she protested very loudly, loudly enough to hurt Zelos's ear as she screeched and raged in his grasp.).

_**Inside**_

"Is this it?" Lloyd asked, puzzled as he looked around. All he could see was a receptionist and a red-clothed guy. Sheena however immediately went up to the person. "Kuchinawa!"

The red-clothed person turned, and when he saw the lavender-haired ninja, exclaimed "Sheena! It's you!"

"What you doing here?" Sheena asked, confused, once his shock of seeing apparently his friend wore off.

"I'm on a top secret mission." Kuchinawa replied. "What about you?"

Sheena blushed slightly. "Ah, well… my friends and I are in a bit of trouble. We've got to get across the bridge."

"Friends?" Kuchinawa scrutinized them. "They're not from Mizuho."

"They're from Sylvarant" Sheena said. Then she turned. "Lloyd, and everyone! This is a friend from Mizuho. His name's Kuchinawa."

"We grew up together. It's an honor to meet you." Kuchinawa then bowed.

"Pleased to meet you" Lloyd replied respectfully. Then, Sheena hopped over the railing of the stairs leading to below. "I'll go talk to the people in the laboratory" She called, and disappeared to down below, only a corner of her pink sash fluttering visibly before it disappeared along with its owner.

"Let's wait for them." Lloyd decided. Zelos, predictably, pouted as for losing a chance to see his voluptuous hunny before settling down grumpily.

They didn't have to wait long. A familiar Sheena-style screech of "That is **crazy!**" Immediately sent them running down the stairs- Kuchinawa had long since also gone down with her as well. The others found Sheena looking positively outraged at a scientist who was looking very frightened at Sheena, just considering just how hard she had screeched. "Listen to this, guys!" She said furiously, not taking into account just why they were there in the basement.

"They want us to cross the sea in a damned EC, for heavens sakes, an EC!"

"An EC?" Lloyd asked, confused. "What is that?"

"Elemental Cargo, typically called EC. It's a compact transport vehicle controlled by exspheres. Its maximum load weight is 1400kg and maximum speed is more than three times faster than an upgraded Exsphere-equipped carriage. They are currently used primarily by shipping companies for delivery." Presea said in a monotone. The others reacted violently immediately.

"What are we, packages?!" Zelos demanded in an outraged tone. However, the researcher that Sheena had been talking to had now gotten the courage to speak up again, therefore ignoring the Chosen. "The Elemental Cargo absorbs mana from the atmosphere and ejects it into the air, producing a counter-reaction that propels it forward.

So if we use Undine for that, we get an EC that can surf."

"S… surf…" Raine mumbled, in a tone that suggested disgust. Lloyd meanwhile began to question all possible alternatives. "Isn't there any other way?" he asked. The researcher, however, doused every other alternative. "You have no choice. The bridge is now closed because of you, you don't have the proper identification to ride the ocean liners, and" he said, suddenly looking rather wooden "On top of that, there are 2 half-elves with you."

"Not that again!" Genis exclaimed angrily. The researcher, however, was unperturbed. "That's the king of world Tethe'Alla is." Then he paused, looking slightly miserable all of a sudden. "We too, hardly ever get to leave this building."

"I wonder why everyone can't get along…" Colette said in a sort of miserable tone. However, Zelos, always the cheery one, it seemed to Lloyd, spoke up. "There's no point in getting all gloomy now. So" he said, looking the scientists "Will you make that modified EC for us?"

"If you wait a day, we'll have it ready by then." The researcher replied. "Okay, then, let's rest over at my mansion."

"The pope's minions won't be waiting for us there, will they?" Sheena asked suspiciously. "It won't matter where we sleep in this city, it's still dangerous" Lloyd said. "I guess you're right…" Sheena sighed.

"My mansion's in the nobles' quarter to the right of Castle Tethe'Alla. It's a conspicuously big building, so you can't miss it." Zelos told them, as they left the building. "I wonder if Kendal will be there?" Lloyd mused. "Aw, don't worry about him," Zelos replied, but for once, his gallant nature was penetrated by a dark look at the mention of the name of a certain brown-scarfed person.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I finally saw the rest of the gang. They'd been gone for some 30 minutes, and I had nothing to do but languish around on the roof. I had no intention of practicing my skills or anything- It might attract attention or something, and besides, I hated practicing, because if you practiced outside battles, you'd adapt to a single style of swordsmanship. It would be much better to simply slash and improve in battle, so you could adapt to all styles. One style wasn't enough for surviving in the real world- You needed to have every variety in there to survive.

Just as they neared the doors, I leaped off the roof, which was some 20 feet tall, and landed cleanly, no bones broken, only thing I did badly was I was forced to the ground by impact. Oh well, it was a something necessary. I always did that, and besides, if I tried to land with my legs stiffed, well, bye-bye good legs, hello broken ones. Straightening my knees, bringing in a slight wave of numbness up from my knees, and therefore standing up again, I said abruptly "How'd it go?"

They stared at me, open mouthed. "Hellooooooo???" I said impatiently. No response.

"**HELLOOOOOOOOO**?????"

That got them out of their amazingly oblivious trance of staring, and sent them all backstepping. Right down the stairs.

They all tumbled down right down the steps to the pavement, slamming hard right into the bottom level. They all landed on their butts, but unfortunately, again for a certain redhead, he landed on his back, and incidentally smashed his head into the stone pavement. Instant concussion.

After general amounts of giggling and laughing and taunting while Zelos slept, they finally turned to me. "Do you hate Zelos or something?" Genis asked, grinning madly. "No. I'm a curse to him." I told them wryly. "Well, I guess that's lucky for me." Sheena said, giggling furiously enough to make her face red. "You're Zelos's main target for hitting on girls, huh?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. I didn't get a response, because with a snort, Zelos woke up. He got to his feet, with a noticeable bump on the back of his head.

Everything got eerily quiet. He stalked up the steps, then put his face into mine and began roaring.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?" "THAT'S WHAT I USUALLY DO! DEAL WITH IT, MY DEAR STUPID ONE!" "I'M NOT STUPID!" "YOU ARE ACTING LIKE IT!" "WELL, I'M SO SORRY I CAN'T JUMP DOWN FROM 20 FEET AND STILL BE ABLE TO STAND!" "YOU SHOULD BE!"

After we finally stopped our shouting match, we burst into Zelos's mansion. Thankfully, his butler was nice, and uninformed of the outside world, because he calmly said to the red faced and murderous looking Zelos "Ah, Master Zelos. I have just received an emissary from the Pope and his highness Tethe'Alla the 18th to notify them as soon as you have returned. What shall I do with the request?"

"Just ignore it." Zelos said, regaining his gallant tone. Even though his face was all red, his oblivious butler made no sign that he noticed at all. "Yes. And who is your friend with the 2 swords?"

"Oh, he's my bud." Zelos replied casually. "Make yourselves at home," he called over his shoulder at the rest of us. For once, he forgot that his, err, curse was right in his little group of 'hunnies'…

Meanwhile, Zelos's butler was saying "If there is anything you need sir bud, then please contact me." I saw him bow, and walk away into what I guessed was the kitchen, given that smells were coming out of it. I heard Lloyd say to my amusement "My name's not 'Bud!'"

_**At dinner**_

"Your butler cooks about as well as Genis" I said through a mouthful of honey-soaked pork. Which just so happened to be my favorite. And I happened to have never tasted it better.

"Hey!" Genis said indignantly. "I'm a good cook too- I cut him off. "I said that Zelos's butler cooks as _well_ as you. So what are you ticked about, kiddie?" I swallowed.

I looked up after swallowing a slice of blueberry pie to find everybody but Presea, the dead-sounding one, looking at me in sheer horror. "What?" I snapped, as I crunched a grape.

More dead silence. I looked up irritably again. "I can see you staring at me, you know." I swiped a bit of honey off my forearms- The only thing that had gotten on me since the dinner had began- and found Genis giving me a look of sheer anger. "Did you just call me a kiddie?" he asked in a voice that held ill-veiled anger.

"Yes I did. Would you like for me to call you that again?" I asked nonchalantly, munching on another slice of pie. There was no response. I decided not to say anything else, since it was obvious what the source of his irritations were. Being called a kiddie.

_**The next day**_

I woke up, yawning as I realized at my usual speeds that for once I was sleeping in luxury. Well, it's always nice to sleep pampered, huh? I couldn't help but grin at myself. For once, a mongrel like me, a dirty one, had just won the lottery that was life and had gotten one night to sleep in rich person's house. Even more impressive, it was the house of the Chosen.

I rolled over to my side. Big mistake. I ended up slamming the floor on my face, having not expected that the bed was a damned frickin' platform that was punishing to those who forgot that rolling off a bed meant totally pain and suffering. Especially if you landed on your face, like I did.

"**FUCK!"**

Once my streak of cursing had died down, I managed to get off the floor in time for Lloyd to come rushing in my room, both swords drawn. "Kendal! What hap-"

"I'm okay" I mumbled as my nose sent another wave of pain through my face, earning a howl from me as I stumbled backwards, clutching it in agony, cursing the wooden floor besides my bed, and fell right on the utensil of my previous night's sleep.

There I was, clutching my nose, as I sat in my bed, moaning. Finally, when the pain completely died down in 5 minutes time, I looked up to see everyone looking at me in horrified fascination. I knew it had to be my nose, so I tentatively swiped my hand over it. No swelling. Thank god I was something not human- Well, not completely human. And there was always my exsphere to thank as well. I stood up with a casual "What?"

They looked at me like I was again something big, tall, and mean who wanted to eat them. Oh woe, my impressions on them weren't very nice, huh?

_**Outside**_

"I forgot to ask you guys something" I said, just as they were about to go to who-knew-where. At least, I didn't know. They all stopped and looked at me. "What?" Lloyd asked.

"Did you guys find a way to get to Sybak and get to where the hell that Kate person is? I don't even know any person named Kate in Sybak." That was saying something. "And besides, where are you guys planning to go after that?"

"Well," Lloyd began, and paused, looking thoughtful. "Well, we don't know."

"I think I remember something of you guys were saying in the Fooji Mountains." I said quickly. "You said that you were going to reunite the 2 worlds?" I looked at them. "You know that's pretty far-fetched idea, right?"

"Yeah, I know" Lloyd responded immediately, "But it doesn't mean that somebody can just stand by and watch this system of sacrifice play on and on and on." Then he got a look of shock. "Hey, wait, why am I even telling you this-?" he asked in a wary tone.

I answered immediately. "If somebody knows about Rheiards, the 2 worlds, and happens to know that Desians and Cruxis are the same thing" I shrugged "Then you should tell."

That settled it.

"So just _how _are you getting to Sybak at all?"

"Well," Sheena piped up "We're going to Sybak via the ocean in an EC."

"You're going to cross in an EC?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "What are you guys going to get smuggled or something? Like, are you going to be smuggled along with illegal drugs or something?"

"Wha-What!?" Sheena cried, blushing. "O-of course not-"

"Then how?" I rolled my eyes. "Please elaborate for me." Then, in a sarcastic tone, I said "Or is it that you blush so much you're brain-dead most of the time?"

"We're going across in a modified EC that surfs." Lloyd said, obviously trying hard to keep a straight face as Sheena was looking at me murderously. No wonder, I always did have a habit of irritating people, huh?

"A.K.A., a boat. Why didn't you tell me that before, short and simple?" I began walking down to the Elemental Laboratory. "Now, shall we go?"

_**The Elemental Laboratory, later**_

For once, I hated Meltokio's size. I always liked how Meltokio was so big and therefore full of surprises- There's an abandoned box jewelry here, if I was lucky sometimes, an litter of kittens over there, and perhaps a howling dog somewhere else. Now, though, I was forced to take conventional routes, which I despised, since it always took time for the others to catch up. I knew I couldn't blame them, but I was annoyed slightly that I couldn't just run across a rooftop to the EL…

Finally, the doors that seemed to be stuck onto the walls almost for decoration appeared as I rounded a corner. With a sigh of relief at not having long to endure with roads, and not rooftops, I struck an easy jogging pace while the others rounded the corner, panting, gasping, and doing everything imaginable the conveyed the image of being battered, bruised, tired, and downright exhausted. And yes, they did fall down a few times. Judging from yelps of pain. Thankfully, it was morning, early morning to be exact, so nobody noticed me or their horribly embarrassing antics of tripping and falling.

"Well?" I called over my shoulder impatiently. "Are we going anywhere yet?"

"Slow… down…" Genis mumbled as he finally carried his limping self to the gate of the laboratory. He plopped down on the pavement, wheezing like he had asthma. The others stumbled to the gates a moment later, finally.

"Nurse," Raine wheezed, and a moment later, everybody had been rid of dirt, blood from scrapes, and their general exhausted selves. "How do you manage to run like that?" The healer asked me as she got up.

"I don't know. Okay, I do know," I said as I went to the doors "But I'm not telling you."

* * *

WHY WON'T THIS STORY GET MORE REVIEWS, WHY WHY WHY! 

Kendal: I'm not supposed to know that, right?

Me: What? Well duh, you're from a primitive world! So how are you supposed to understand why!?

Kendal: (glowers) Anyway, please read and review!


	16. Mores Sewer Chaos

I can't believe that I'm supposed to go swimming now, 5 days a week…

Kendal: What's wrong about it?

Me: It'll restrict my typing time!

Kendal: I think it's good for you. And me.

Me: 'And me'? What's that supposed to mean?

Kendal: I won't be around you for long. Yay!

Me: (steams)

Everybody except Kendal: (in unison) RUN FOR IT!

Kendal: (takes off)

Me: Oh, and I don't own anything except myself. (implodes)

Special note: This chapter tells the recrossing of the sewers, because technically, quick jumping doesn't exist in this world. So, what am I supposed to do? (bricked) X-x

* * *

I shoved open the door to the Elemental Lab. But not without taking off my scarf first. I had no intention of getting noticed as a criminal, albeit a high-profiled one, the moment I entered the lab. 

The scientists, who had apparently made the EC, because they were holding a wing pack, were waiting, just at the top of the stairs that led to the lab. Seemed that they were expecting us. "You're finally here." The lead scientist said mildly, as if he was slightly annoyed.

I couldn't help but pipe up "Just when did you guys start waiting?"

"Well," he muttered, "Kuchinawa told us that you would come here at least a few hours before…" Then, the other scientist besides him spoke up. "Speaking of Kuchinawa, he carried off the EC."

"What!?" Sheena yelped. "Why did he-!?"

"Kuchinawa didn't tell you? Strange…" The lead scientist said mildly. "He's at the Tethe'Alla bridge. Go to the pier at the right of the bridge entrance, at the artificial beach. He should be there."

"Alright!" Lloyd exclaimed, Just as he was supposed to run out the door to the bridge, he was stopped by the second scientist. "Wait." He handed Lloyd the wing pack, which Lloyd took, confused. "What's this?" he asked. "That's a wing pack. It's what you store an EC in."

"The EC is this small?" the ones from Sylvarant chorused in shock. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I might have gone to Sylvarant 5 years ago, but I was definitely not going to say an EC would be as small as, say, a glass of beer. Or, perhaps a certain appendage of a woman, the part that a certain redhead would love to squeeze.

_**Outside**_

I let go a sigh of relief, wondering just how they didn't recognize me. "Why are you sighing?" I heard Lloyd say behind me. I was instantly seized by panic until I realized the he was talking to Genis. No doubt he had been told or something that all the researchers were half-elves, and he had only been exposed to the massive amounts of half-elf discrimination from what I had picked up in conversation just before we were climbing the Fooji mountains. No doubt he was feeling overwhelmed about it.

"The right pier, right?" I asked over my shoulder as we neared the entrance to the sewers. We had to go through them again; it seemed, because of soldiers blockading the entrance, so no luck trying to force it open from the inside- Instant arrest for us. Maybe not for me, but I chose not to take chances, and besides, at the very least, there was better safety in numbers.

"Yeah," I heard Sheena say, then the footsteps abruptly stopped behind me.

I turned, as I stood above the manhole cover. "We're going through there… again?" Lloyd said weakly. Zelos added, unnecessarily, "Damn, we have to endure that hellhole again? What if the pope's men are there or something?"

"Well, if we do encounter them, then let us kick some filthy convicted-slash-criminal ass, shall we?" I told them over my shoulder again, with a touch of irritability.

I lifted the manhole after furtively looking around for bystanders. It still was morning, but I had seen people begin walking around. Thankfully, they were mumbling, or were they just sleepwalking? A.K.A. They had their heads down.

"C'mon, Zelos, let's go in there together!" I heard Colette say over my shoulder as I began going down the manhole. I sighed. Thank god Colette could convince him. I lowered myself down to the 4th rung of the ladder when-

I heard a yelp. I whipped my head around to see Zelos, who had apparently tripped over the manhole cover, fall on to me. Or would. I had no intention of dropping down 10 feet with somebody who looked like a girl and so happened to be a pervert, so I did the only thing I could. As his stomach lowered, as if in slow motion, I jabbed my head upwards sharply just before he hit my head-

I felt the impact rattle the base of my head as the shadow that had fallen on me so suddenly lift away in the exact same manner, as Zelos flew over me, looking extremely shocked at pretty much thing in his sight. Some how, a wind or something did it, he turned and landed on his back. And then, his body still twisting around, his face. He went skidding on his face, his nose getting the brunt of having to deal with some damned concrete, for heavens sake, concrete.

Concrete is _not_ something you want to fall on, so why in the world would you want to skid your nose over it?

Zelos finally stopped skidding. Well, no, he didn't. He came into full speed contact with the base of a fencepost that was mercifully a short distance of 6 inches away from the spot where he had landed. The fence post toppled with a shower of soil, but not before the unfortunate Chosen of Tethe'Alla turned over, his nose a horrid mess, and his eyes glazed over completely, signifying to even the most idiot of minds that he was knocked out cold.

Raine rushed over and preformed First Aid on him, the first one to snap out of looking at and being stunned by the scene, the base of which was my creation. Their eyes turned to Zelos, while Raine reformed his 'beautiful' nose, to me, who was staring along with everyone else at Zelos.

"I didn't do anything" I mouthed, then I dropped down into the sewers.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Sheena could only stare at the black hole that led to a… hellhole. Ironic because it was a hole that led to a…. Well, she supposed to herself, she'd better stop her elaboration. She was feeling the urge to giggle again, considering that Zelos seemed to be well and truly knocked out.

Even though the rest of her was screaming for Zelos to be left alone with Raine, she walked over to him. "How is he?" She asked. Anybody would have felt pity for somebody when they skid on their nose, especially when that person considers his nose beautiful. Well, that was laughable. But still…

"Oh, he'll be alright," Raine said, looking up. "Though I'm surprised just how Kendal managed to get Zelos to skid on his nose…"

**VWVWVWVWV**

I waited impatiently for the others to come down, which finally happened. Everyone came down the ladder, except Zelos, who was promptly thrown down. Unfortunately for Lloyd, who was right below. I saw Lloyd look of horror as Zelos slammed into him, that he was promptly revolted by Zelos and his antics. Thankfully, he was knocked out, so….

I saw Raine push the manhole cover to the entrance of the sewers, prompting the small amount of daylight that had entered the gloom of the current environment we were in to disappear.

I sighed. Well, I guess that was the last of the sun we would see in some 15 minutes, I supposed.

I turned to walk over to the innards of the sewers, when I saw an altar, the same altar type that Lloyd had changed the apparent effects of the Sorcerer's Ring (I guessed that's what it was called, since they kept saying "Sorcerer's Ring, Sorcerer's Ring, blah blah blah…"). I groaned. Time to be small again. I had no ability to jump 30 feet, even if I ran (The trick with the wall during my first encounter with the others, well, I had cheated the last 10 feet, cause I jammed my daggers at a lightning-fast speed and pushed up with them, earning me the 10-foot boost I needed). So, it was time to get small again…

I looked at the ring on my finger. The relief that we had gotten out of this smelly hellhole yesterday had earned me the unofficial right to keep it, but I had no intention of keeping a ring that shot fire, and could make people small. Horribly so. I sighed, then racked my memories. How'd they change the function of this… thing? I tentatively put the ring, and therefore my hand into it glowing light of the altar, and viola (A/N: Yes, Spiritua, I'm taking your advice from now on), there it is, the ring glows a bit, and apparently nothing happens. So, I squeezed it, to test it out, and…

_Pop!_

Thankfully, there was a blue tile nearby. Experimenting over.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Dropping down, Lloyd noticed 2 things first. There was another of those altars that changed what ever the Sorcerer's ring did, which immediately reminded him that Kendal had kept it. Well, it was no surprise he did, Lloyd supposed, because nobody had raised the issue, so he didn't- wouldn't- feel any need to return it, would he?

Second of all, the ruined staircase- The top of it, ripped wide open from the confrontation of yesterday, now separated the others, who had finally joined Lloyd into looking out to the other side of the miniature chasm.

"Um, don't you people know how to climb down the break in the floor?"

**VWVWVWVWV**

I resisted the urge to call them idiots as they came to the edge of the waterfall. Barely. And, now it seemed Zelos had woken up from his nose sliding act, so…

Without further ado, after they had all joined me at the waterfall, I squeezed the ring, and with the now all-too familiar _Pop!_ we transformed into out miniature selves. Again.

_**The other side of the sewers, 15 minutes later**_

Okay, damn, to get through the place in 15 minutes was an estimate that missed on all counts. I hadn't realized that the delays traveling small (As was required by many parts of the sewers) would take, but now I knew. There would be another long 15 minute delay. Oh, the horror. Snap. And there were always monsters…

"OWWW!!!"

That was the result of a rat that jumped on my arm and gave me a bite to my elbow. I immediately twirled my cleaver (which I had passed to my left hand the moment I had felt the pain in my right arm and was out long before I was forced to deal with these stupid mice), effectively slashing it into 3 sections before the remains of the rat fell off. In a bloody manner, obviously. Fear the lethality that even a weird sort of show-off trick can have in battle.

I kicked away another rat as I tried to sweep the head off a rather evil, well, jelly, with spiked arms of course, which was countered my its own slashing outstretched tentacle. I immediately slid the blade up the tentacle, where I slashed off the tip. While the abomination of the sea withered around in pain as green blood spurted out, I yelled "Dominating Blade!" and shredded it to pieces. Glancing around, I saw 3 more rats, the last of who were attacking me, I supposed, who promptly jumped towards me in a coordinated jump. This time, I could see the poison dripping down from all of their outstretched, gleaming fangs-

I had no intention to have rat poison going through my arteries, so I did the only thing sensible. Namely, kill them. With flair. In my case.

"DAMNATION!"

I leap forward as I anticipated the sudden rush of adrenaline, the type of same rush that happened when you were angry, and slashed 5 times with an artificial vengeance, easily slashing though them as blood rained on me, rat blood, propelled by the bodies of the rats themselves. Speaking of which…

I felt a few thumps on my chest and looked downwards. There, I saw bloodstains, and, as I angled my rather filthy bloodstained face, I saw the remains of the rats and a whole damn lot of blood.

"**Ugh.**" I said disgustedly, swiping my face thoroughly with a tail of my scarf. Thankfully that was there, my personally towel.

Well, it was a bit dirty at times, but…

I heard a hissing sound from behind me, and spun around. There was another viper, one of several that I had killed slogging through the hellhole that was the sewers. It was already in midair, and was too close to me- Only around half a foot- from hitting me.

I did a weird sort of instinctive half spin as I wound up my arm, then I slugged the purple, violent viper with my right hand. The gauntlet hand.

The head of the snake was immediately pulverized into bloody bits of scales, body tissues, and various organs as they were sprayed on the wall from the force that I had used in my fist.

I looked down at my gauntlet. This was the reason that I had been able to smash a stupid snake head into bits. I couldn't help but grin to myself in knowing just how many times this had come to saving my life, but my mental manual for survival had its number one section devoted to dictating "**Gauntlets will save your life one day, in one situation, so do not forget it. Ever.**"

Guess it had saved my life, at least an apple gel from being used, again.

I rewrapped a scarf tail around my gauntlet (It automatically fell off whenever somebody/thing tried to attack me) and headed towards the hole of light in the wall. Back to the world of sunlight and fresh air.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd jammed the tip of the Kotetsu into the head of an Evil Jelly, which promptly let out an enraged squeal and then collapsed in a manner similar to being deflated.

"Damn, these things are tough," Lloyd muttered in frustration, as he swiped off blood from a rip in his trousers, a wound from one of the spikes on the sides of the tentacles of the evil jelly.

Looking around, he saw Genis being forced to resort to using his kendama in close range combat as he swung the electric ball attached to the hammer-like weapon and hit the eye of a viper. Hissing in fury, the viper spat out a glob of poison, which the kendama promptly absorbed.

"Demon Fang!" Lloyd hollered, sending a ground skimming at the viper. The viper was thrown a foot into the air and landed on the damp concrete with a thud, dazed, giving Genis time for a quick, final spell "Icicle!"

"Thanks" Genis panted, as he wiped the sweat off his brow. Lloyd nodded before going over to Raine to heal his wound on his leg. But along the way, he was forced to confront a sewer rat. _Damn,_ Lloyd thought furiously as he slashed at it, _how did Kendal managed kill these stupid things so easily?_

_**The other side of the sewers, 15 minutes later**_

I was seriously getting impatient until the others finally showed up, battered, bruised, but not necessarily beaten. Well, Genis was sprouting a chest wound and a white face, so I supposed that counted.

"You guys look bad" I commented. Lloyd had several rips in many places, Sheena had a single, serious gash in her left leg, causing a limp, Zelos had many scratches on his face, albeit his so-called beautiful one, Genis had his chest wound, and Raine, the healer, even had some light slashes in her right arm, judging from the amount of blood seeping through.

"Speak for yourself," Genis mumbled. I looked down. Ah, of course. I was soaked in blood, but…

"At least I didn't get hit, unlike you guys" I shot back and strode away, having no intention of turning an innocent remark into something that induced an all-out war. Just what we needed. Well, the remark wasn't innocent, but my point held.

I heard Raine mumble "Nurse" behind me, but I had no serious wounds, save for the single bite I had gotten in the sewers, and that was already half healed. Besides, I was already out of the spell's range.

As we passed the gates, closed, with guards standing and closed, of course, Zelos, doing his regular thing (With a newly repaired nose, but I guessed he had no idea what happened, since he wasn't shooting me any dirty looks) to people who were coming into the city. Thankfully, nobody cared that he was wanted. Oh well, I just hid. Everybody would care about me being wanted if I was seen, right?

* * *

Me:THERE! FEEL MY WRATH STEMMED FROM THOSE IDIOTS WHO WON'T REVIEW! 

Kendal: (burnt) Owww... Sheesh, I know you're on a short fuse but-

Me: NO BUTS! (punches)

Kendal: ARGH! NOT THE BURNS! NOT THE BUUUUURNS!!!

Oh, and sorry about the slightly shorter chapter length. I had writers block...

Zelos: YOU DESERVED IT FOR WRECKING MY BEAUTIFUL NOSE! T-T

Me: (sweatdrop) It was for comedy purposes!


	17. EC Ensanity

Finally, it looks like people reviewed! Must… thank Spiritua….

Kendal: Yeah, without her, you'd be nothing. N. O. T. H. I. N. G.

Me: No I wouldn't!

Kendal: Really? She reviewed all chapters for you, you know.

Me: Well, that's her habit-

Kendal: Stop making excuses already! Besides, you must be related to George Bush or something or you might take on the name, cuz I still believe you're going to be poor.

Me: I will NOT BE CALLED GEORGE BUSH IN THE FUTURE!

Kendal: Oh?

Me: (kicks him in the shin and rips out an eyeball)

Kendal: ARRRRGH! AGONY! THE PAIN! THE PAIN! AGONYYYYYYY!!!!!

* * *

After Zelos finally stopped his glut of flirting (Only after a bunch of Papal Knights came), we finally got to head off the Grand Tethe'Alla bridge. Unfortunately, from the sun's position when we finally managed to reach the bridge after a 3-miles trek, I could see that it was already approaching noon time- Our excursion in the sewer, combined with the visit to the Elemental Laboratory and the walk to the bridge was definitely shaving time off the day. 

"Finally," I grumbled, as we reached the base of the bridge. The bridge was more obvious to see on the horizon as ever, thanks to the fact that apparently the pope had ordered that nobody would be able to cross the bridge- The bridge was raised sky-high, as always when somebody was wanted. Always.

"The right pier, wasn't it?" I asked. The others nodded. As we approached the gate that led to the pier, Presea said rather unnecessarily "It's locked." Same monotone that I was getting sick of.

I almost got out my cleaver to smash open the lock, but Lloyd interrupted my rather destructive method. "Hmm, you're right, I'll unlock it."

After a minute of toying around with the lock, it fell away. Well, I supposed that would serve as a non-violent alternative to just smashing it. And besides, I would have attracted attention if I had slashed it- metal against metal makes noise. Very loud noise.

"There we go." Lloyd said cheerily. "You're amazing, Lloyd!" Colette said in an awed voice. Lloyd looked as if he was enjoying his moment of glory immensely, which would have resulted in what I suspected a rather prideful walk down the steps had not Zelos, always the spiteful one, said snidely "His face loses out to mine though."

"What's that got to do with anything!?" That earned some chuckles from Genis, Sheena, and Colette.

"Yeah, Zelly," I said under my breath my new nickname for him, "What does your own ugly face have to do with it, anyway?"

I vaulted over the shoulder of Presea straight over her and the others. Unresponsive as ever, Presea didn't do a single thing to show that she even notice my hand pressing down on her shoulder for the briefest instant. I went flying all the way down to the bottom of the steps, stumbling slightly on the landing- There was some, I don't know, 20-30 steps to the bottom, which made the totally height some 30 feet. And besides, I had no wall to sink my daggers in.

I'd never admit it, but my legs were beginning to feel a bit jelly-like after the landing. Slightly, enough that it wouldn't show obviously.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd walked down, behind Kendal who always seemed to want to be first at everything. Well, not exactly. He wanted to try steering the EC, whatever shape it was. Because, he was excited, and when he was excited about something, then oh woe for other people who are excited too. He would be the first one to try out whatever was new.

As they were going down the steps, Raine noticed the exspheres embedded along the side of the bridge. "You can see what gives the bridge its power" Raine said, getting everybody's attention except Kendal, who was lounging at the foot of the stairs.

They were all silent until Colette, who had never seen this before, said "Oh, you're right. Are all those things exspheres?"

"That's right, Colette." Zelos said, for once sober. "The bridge…" his voice trailed off for a few seconds "Is operated by exspheres."

"It is a bit gross-looking" Colette commented. "It sure is grotesque, but I wonder if you should say that when you know where they come from" Zelos replied, a slightly funeralistic tone on the last word.

"You're right" Colette said, for once without a tone of cheeriness as they continued down the steps.

The entire group was silent, sobered by the sight of the exspheres, unless you counted Kendal, who was basically always silent unless he wanted to ask a question or was spoken to.

**VWVWVWVWV**

They finally got down the steps, fresh out of their observations with sad faces. No doubt about it. It was about the exspheres, it had to be.

When you thought about it, to me it was strange. It was only around 50 years old since construction had been completed, and then people were revolted by the looks of the sides of the bridge. As well as skeptical that a bridge this big could ever be built at all. But the financial issues, and the possibility itself. Well, that all changed soon enough, so, they simply stopped looking.

I hated those people, for not inquiring just how the bridge was powered. They knew, but they didn't know where exspheres came from. Therefore, they didn't know just how many human lives had been wasted, sacrificed, and abused so that some bunches of stupid little spheres could power a damned bridge. A huge bridge, but, to me, the glaring flaw was the question of…

Was powering a bridge as important as 3000 human lives?

I reached the pier. I did. Well, I was always first, so no surprises there. At the pier…

I did an involuntary twitch of my right arm. There, standing right next to a… thing in the water that I assumed was an EC, was a red-clothed ninja. A red clothed ninja…

Dressed exactly the same style as the person I saw in Sybak. Uh-oh.

Maybe that was an understatement.

I immediately stopped and let the others pass me. I could see that the guy hadn't noticed us yet, until Lloyd came rushing up to him. I kept behind the corner of the pier, watching an exchange of dialouge begin…

**VWVWVWVWV**

"It took you long enough" Kuchinawa said in a slightly-annoyed tone of voice. Then, he gestured to the craft behind him. "This is the EC."

Zelos turned to Lloyd. "Okay, Lloyd, try the wing pack you just got."

Lloyd raised the wing pack up. "Let's see… Like this…?" he asked, as the craft suddenly shrunk before the eyes of the group into the wing pack.

Lloyd yelped "Wagh!?" as he stumbled backwards, his body having braced for the impact of a transport device bearing down on him which, incidentally, never came.

Genis and Colette yelled out at the same time 2 different but related bits of language. Genis yelled "Whoa! How does it work!?" while Colette shouted "Whoa, that's incredible!"

Raine mumbled "Why do I think I've seen this before…?" so low that nobody but Presea noticed her say anything. In a monotone, she asked "Professor?"

"No, it's nothing…"

Meanwhile, Zelos was looking on bemused as the younger members of the group literally sprouted exclamation points as Lloyd recovered from his initial shock and said "That's so cool! Let's try bringing it back out!"

He raised the wing pack again. With an identical appearance of a cloud of smoke as when the EC had disappeared inside the wing pack, it reappeared.

Needless to say, the 3 children of the group yelled identical tones of amazement, as they stared at the EC, now floating lazily in the water as it had been when they had first seen them.

"That's enough fooling around" Kuchinawa said impatiently. "How about getting your way?"

"Alright." Then Lloyd reverted back to his excited self. "This is so cool! I can't wait to ride in the EC!"

Genis simply sighed and said with a slight touch of sarcasm "You know that you'll get bored in no time…"

Colette, meanwhile, was her usual happy self. "We're going to sea!" she cried happily.

Raine was the only voice of gloom it, it seemed, which nobody heard as the others began boarding the EC. "We're going to sea, aren't we…" she mumbled.

As if to only make the professor more miserable, Presea said in a dead voice "We're going to sea."

"Let's get going. Off to Sybak!" Sheena crowed. Then, she began stepping inside the EC when….

"Sheena, take this with you" Kuchinawa said, as he handed her a charm carved in the shape of a swan.

"A protective charm?" Sheena asked as she took it from Kuchinawa's hand. "Yes," he replied, "Be careful!" She nodded, and boarded the craft, like everyone else. Once they were all inside, save one person whom they didn't notice in their excitement (And, in the case of one person, nausea). "Undine!" Sheena called out. Immediately, the Summon Spirit of Water appeared, and, having registered an unspoken command from her summoner, immediately sent a stream of mana at the unmoving EC.

The EC shuddered, before beginning to move. Lloyd, inside, pushed down on the pedal harder. The EC began to gradually pick up speed, now going completely clear of the pier and-

**VWVWVWVWV**

I knew that this was my time to make my appearance. This was where I needed to jump, or I'd never make it. I had no intention of crossing via the bridge, since the bridge was under heavy security- We were barely out of sight of the guards, and unfortunately for us, they were Papal Knights, who would arrest me at any moment- Then again, other common soldiers were no different when it came to handling me. So, yeah, I had to make it to the EC.

I focused on it from the corner. They Kuchinawa guy, who I was now absolutely sure was the one at Sybak _had_ to be unable to see my face, or he'd betray us in an instant. Well, maybe I might not be, because I was one of Sheena's 'friends,' after all…

Oh well, it always pays to err on the side of caution. Because even if you were wrong, there's nothing to lose. There's always nothing.

I hopped out of the corner and took a running leap down the pier, knocking down Kuchinawa in the process. I ran hard, my legs were pumping the stone, my chest had just began feeling burned, I braced my legs for a leap as I dug the soles of my boots in to the very end of the dock, I stopped running and-

I shoved off the dock, straightening my body upwards to minimize the air resistance, like a rocket. Well, now I was. A human one. I felt myself begin to angle downwards as the EC came closer…

Suddenly, as if fate had chosen this certain, dangerous moment to mess up my landing, the EC suddenly became closer at an impossible rate. I knew why, though. Just an illusion. The rate an object appears to get closer to you multiplies exponentially as you go closer to the object. I had dealt with this hundreds of times over the long thousand years of my life.

The EC was getting closer faster, obviously. By now, it was occupying half my vision. I immediately lashed my legs, and therefore my entire lower body upwards. Well, no not exactly upwards. I just threw them in front of me. Also, I spread my arms as I rightened my body to its natural position. If I hit the roof of the EC's cargo-now-converted-into-passenger hold too hard, then I might break both of my legs, which were now bent slightly to take the impact. Even worse, at my current speed I was going at, I just might burst through the roof of the craft.

Hell to the no when it came to facing that prospect.

I spread out my arms as I fell, my legs, if they were straight down, would be perpendicular to the surface of the ocean, which was basically spitting water at me, considering today's wind. It was an odd position to be in the air with, and hard to keep myself in the position at all, but I thought it was nothing. One's body is strengthened by a thousand years of exercise, no?

I slammed down on the roof of the EC, about a fourth of my original momentum gone.

That still didn't mean that I wasn't going so damned fast, nor did it mean that it negated the pain, obviously. With speed in slamming into something comes pain.

I was driven to my knees, which thankfully weren't straight, because I would be feeling a massive addition of pain to the violent ache in my knees. So what if they had recovered from my little stunt back at the stairs leading to the pier. The pain always went out fast, it always did. And I knew that my knees would recover from this little endeavor as well. Well, hopefully faster than Lloyd and company, but right now, it was all I could do not to roar in pain. And that was saying something about what I was feeling. Because I bet if the others experienced what I was feeling, I bet they would faint. Theatrically.

As if by design, a gale struck my back. It wasn't particularly powerful, but at this moment, when my sense of balance completely left me, for all I knew, it could have been a gale from a tornado. A violent one. I was pitched forward into the craft headfirst. The only thing to stop me from getting a sprained or (worse) a broken one was…

To flip in midair and land on my back. I knew it would hurt, but wasn't taking pain and dishing it back out part of my everyday agenda? Well, there was nobody in particular who I could dish back pain to, so I could forget that part. Anyway, ignoring that…

As the wind pitched my into the rooftop hatch of the EC (Thank god or goddess it was open, or I would have gotten a bloody, bloody nose) I pushed my legs forwards (Or backwards, if I was standing and you saw me doing this, or if you were upside down and watching me, anyway) to the point that as I completely cleared the open hatchway, I was falling on my back. Straight down.

The last thing I saw was a pair of extremely surprised-looking hazel eyes. Well, at least it was the last thing I saw for some few seconds or something.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd was so surprised at the sudden appearance of the head of the headbanded, gold-eyed Kendal that he almost lost control of the EC as Kendal's body crashed right at his feet, miraculously missing Lloyd's feet as he slammed down into the floor of the rather crowded craft.

For a few seconds, all Lloyd could think of was putting his foot on the pedal as hard as he could as he stared openmouthed at the body that was at his feet, which lying motionless as if he was dead.

After a few seconds, the sleeping… teenager popped up, right in front of Lloyd with a rather flustered "What did I miss?"

Yelping, Lloyd immediately turned a sharp left on the EC's steering lever. Kendal, who had just turned around immediately… screamed "What the hell are you doing!" as out of the corner of the view screen not obstructed by Kendal a supporting column of the bridge suddenly got larger by the second. Immediately, the newcomer within the makeshift craft sat on Lloyd, crushing almost all the air out of the red-clothed boy's lungs. Before anybody could scream, object, or anything else, Kendal jammed the lever to the right instinctively. Immediately the EC turned sharply right, earning some wild yells and screams from the others as the EC now had its energy jets in the opposite direction as it was going, straight at the bridge-

The EC shuddered to a watery stop and reversed it direction of motion, away from towering column that the craft had nearly crashed into.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I noticed an empty seat that had thankfully not been taken inside the EC. The scientists had inserted the luxury of making sure that there were 9 seats inside, meaning that we could accommodate one more person in our rather quack-sounding journey to reunite 2 worlds which hadn't known the existence of each other for 4,000 years. Well, the seat I had chosen was the closest one to me, and I had no intention of going back to the other free seat which meant going through everyone else in this cramped boat….

As I sat down, I noticed the loud, dead silence ringing from one end of the EC to the next as Lloyd took over steering again for Sybak, occasionally sending me looks of surprise identical to the ones I knew I was getting as I stared out straight ahead, not daring to look.

"What?" I snapped to no one in particular. I heard a sudden torrent of jerking noises and a chorus of mumbled "Nothings".

I gave a loud, fake disgruntled "Humph" which suggested annoyance. _Suggested. _What I really was doing was laughing my heart out inside myself.

I sneaked a look back. For all I knew, there had been some 30 seconds after my little leap off the pier. I knew that ECs moved at 18 miles an hour, exactly clocked in experiments that I had heard about, so it meant that every minutes at max speed, you moved around a third of a mile. So, in other words, I had launched myself-

Wait a minute, that far? No... I knew that EC needed at least 15 seconds to go to max speed, so it meant that the speed was maybe some amount so small, that you had to measure in feet, so...

I looked back. The first column of the Grand Tethe'Alla Bridge was rapidly receding in the distance, but I estimated that it was 30 feet out from the artificial beach/pier. Plus, we had gone into our little near-collision with that thing in a pretty sharp angle, it that the EC when I landed was-

"Damn," I muttered under my breath. I had jumped some 25 feet, give or take. I had beaten my personal record by a mile, in my standards. Damn indeed. I couldn't help but whistle at myself.

I must be insane. Normal people can't do that, so why should I be able to do that? Then again, I wouldn't be what you'd call normal, so...

* * *

Well, that's that! Oh, and... (sticks Kendal's eye back into socket) 

Kendal: AUGH! YOU SON OF A- (silence)

Me: You were saying...

Kendal: How did you insert my eye back in? And how did you rip it out in the first place? For all I know, I'm supposed to be blind! And bloody, but I can't see any blood!

Me: I have author powers, so I can command what ever I want as long as I'm writing this, remember?

Kendal: Damn, I wanna be you... ;-;

Me: Well, too bad, my dear duck. (kicked) WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?

Kendal: (mauled) ARGH! NOT AGAIN! Hey, why didn't you command Sheena to Sylph-ify me? You don't own her, but you can command her what ever you want her to do within the story, right? Wait... AH-HA! SPIRITUA LIKED YOU MAULING ME, SO YOU JUST WANT TO MAKE HER LAUGH AGAIN!

Me: (groans) Why did I make you this intelligent? (mauls more violently)

Kendal: ARGH! POLICE! POLICE! ABUSE! ABUSE! MURDER! RAPE! NOOOO!!!!

Me: (sweatdrop) Am I really doing everything what he said? I'm only abusing him, but nothing else-

Random policeman: GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR, NOW!

Me: (super sweatdrop) What the hell? (runs for it)


	18. Stareoffs

Me: (sulks) Nice job almost getting me arrested…

Kendal: (bows) My pleasure. Wait, what does police mean, anyway?

Me: (mauls him and slaps duct tape over Kendal's mouth)

Kendal: Mmm, mmmmph, mmmmph! (Translation: Help! Bad man is abusing me! Again! HELLLLP!!!)

Me: Yay! No more idiot officers will come after me again! (skips joyfully)

* * *

The ride in the EC continued in silence, as Lloyd didn't even move the steering lever an inch as me and the others sped across the ocean. All the while, I noticed that Lloyd face had become totally rigid, and that his knuckles were white on the control lever. 

I sure was becoming such a good influence, huh?

The others were avoided looking me in the eye for the rest of the trip across the ocean. I had no idea why, but I suspected that it had to do with what I just did. But it didn't involve them, did it? Oh well, I guess I was the main reason that this stupid thing that we were riding in almost crashed into something so short after its launch...

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd resisted looking to his right at the brown haired/dressed teenager who was staring at the front just like himself. In truth, he really wanted to get somebody else to take over and let him gape at the person only 3 seats away from him in all time he needed.

He was still shaking the cobwebs out of his head from seeing somebody's eyes, especially golden ones stare at him only moments before a body had crashed in front of him, shocking Lloyd into total numbness.

And then, there was always the part of the party's near crash only half a minute after the launch of the EC.

Lloyd couldn't help but wonder if all these things were a result by Kendal himself, a curse, or a result of his own clumsiness. Or, considering other events, the other's clumsiness/lack of skill as well…

**VWVWVWVWV**

Finally, after 15 minutes of deathly silence which basically was killing me, I finally saw the shore line and another pier, this one not part of the Tethe'Alla Bridge. It was at least a mile from the north end of the bridge, and this one wasn't a small one- This one was meant for ocean liners, and when I say ocean liners, I mean that they were god damned **HUGE**.

The pier were meant for ships that were much larger than the little craft we were riding in- I swear, if we managed to get close enough to one of those damned behemoths, then we were as good as dead, thanks to the amount of water that the ship drew to it as a result of the amount of water that was displaced by the motions of the liner- We'd be dashed to pieces against it, and to add insult to injury, even I wouldn't be able to survive the impact and the hull would have nothing for inspectors to notice the traces of a, err, crash.

As we drew near the pier, I noticed that no ocean liners were present. Funny, since it was so close to the Grand Tethe'Alla Bridge, and Sybak and Meltokio were tourist hotspots. Orders of the Pope, I guessed. Or were we just lucky?

The moment we got to a complete stop by a dock, I was the first one to climb up the hatch monkey style and drop onto standing space that finally didn't wobble and lurch. Not that I hated the sea. I just hated the constant lurching.

Well, mainly on windy days like this one…

I heard a loud _poof_ as what I supposed the EC got sucked into, apparently, the wing pack. I sighed. Finally, now we could get to Sybak and to that Kate girl that was mentioned by them last night.

"By the way…"

I stopped and looked behind me to discovered Genis fixing a quizzical right on me. "What?" I asked as I resumed my pace. Immediately I began to walk my own rapid pace again, hearing hurried foot steps of what I supposed Genis trying to catch up to me. I shot an amused glance behind me. He was pumping the ground so hard, but as his legs were so short, he didn't exactly get far. Then, I realized that his face was already red after only a few moments of beginning to run- This guy definitely didn't have a good physical form, did he?

"Why… did you… have to… go… leap on the top of the EC like that?" he managed to choke out as he tried to talk and run at the same time. I sighed. Might as well put pity on the little half-elf.

I calmly sidestepped and watched the little boy behind me fly right past me in a burst of speed that Genis had somehow managed to salvage from inside of him the moment I side stepped. Now unmoving, I watched him stumble and almost fall on his back, where his momentum almost certainly would have rolled him over. That's painful whenever you consider that the ground we were walking on was still concrete, which is hard, unlike dirt and grass. Because dirt's not concentrated and therefore offers less pain when fallen on- Concrete, won't budge a damn inch unless you conveniently blow it up. Or melt it, or crack, it the list went on and on.

As he staggered to a halt, gasping or breath, I resumed my pace of walking again, but not before I walked my and said:

"You're better off not knowing just who the Kuchinawa guy knows me as."

I heard Genis yell "Wait! What do you mean by who Kuchinawa knows you as-!?" but I had made up my mind not to respond if I did tell him the truth, it would be incriminating. And, besides, I hated liars. They just told things that delayed the inevitable. I knew I was placing myself on the level of liars, but just what was I going to say?

**VWVWVWVWV**

Genis could only stare at Kendal's slowly retreating figure as he walked his own fast, seemingly thoughtful pace towards the general direction of Sybak. He didn't move until the other caught up to him, looking at Genis quizzically. "What were you trying to match his speed for?" Lloyd asked.

Genis immediately shrugged. "I wanted to ask him something" he replied.

"What?" Lloyd inquired. "It was a…" Genis fumbled for the right word to describe the nature of the question. "It was a… er… personal question! Yeah, that's it!" He looked around innocently.

Obviously, the others didn't take the bait. "Tell us Genis. Now." Raine said in a voice which slightly hinted a slight amount of coldness.

Genis paled. He knew the last time what had happened when he crossed Raine when she had that tone of voice, and it wasn't pretty.

He told them everything.

A short silence followed as the other members of the group minus Kendal, who was already becoming a receding figure in the distance, pondered the response of the mentioned person that was walking away.

"So, what do you think of this?" Lloyd said, finally breaking the silence that had fallen on them. They all shrugged. "I don't know what he meant by saying that** '**You're better off not knowing just who the Kuchinawa guy knows me as'" She said, her brow furrowed.

Then, Kendal yelled "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING BACK THERE!"

**VWVWVWVWV**

I tapped my foot impatiently as they immediately rushed up, looking both embarrassed and flustered. "What took you?" I asked impatiently, giving hem another of my trademark what-the-hell-took-you exsphere-idiots-so-long look.

They immediately turned their heads downwards in an embarrassed fashion.

Which obviously beamed out for miles around the fact that they were being distracted, as usual.

"Well?" I asked impatiently. "Are we going to Sybak or not?" Immediately they rushed towards the town of brainiacs in a hurried manner.

I wondered how long they'd be able to keep up the killer pace they were going at right now, which was at least twice my regular walking speed? Time to see how long.

I started counting. as I walked along. "One… two… three…"

_**Sybak**_

I arrived at Sybak. Well, a bit from the gates, in truth.

Sybak was some 5 miles from the dock where we had finished our trip from one continent to another. Now, here's another trip-

**GET THE HELL TO SYBAK RIGHT NOW**.

Unfortunately, the others, obviously lacking a necessary amount of strength to be able to keep up their pace for more than 5 minutes, were about half that distance away. I sighed as I spotted a rock, chillingly reminiscent of my previous waiting stint on top of rock that was also placed oh-so conveniently there.

5 minutes. 10. The sun started dropping slightly to my right- About early afternoon. I groaned. Why did I have to be simply better when it came to physical endurance and the others basically sucking at it? Badly, for all I cared, anyway?

Finally, when I had counted my 1,800 seconds, AKA 15 minutes, they came stumbling to where I was. At least this time, they didn't collapse. Well, for a few moments, they didn't. Then, well, they went down. Except Presea. She, the soulless one, as I had managed to get out of Lloyd yesterday, calmly walked up to the rock I was sitting on and stopped. Sweat was on her, sure enough, but definitely not enough to suggest that she had run all the way from the dock to the town's gate.

I knew for one thing that she had an insane amount of strength, probably more than me, but it looked like she had walked, for all I knew. She had to have run, because she was barely puffing, but she didn't put her hands on her knees, or sit beside me on another, nearby rock for rest. She just let out some hurried puff of air, and then stood there. She just stood there, nothing else.

The others trudged up a minute later, 1,856 seconds later to be exact, they look _very_ worn out. Well, that was an understatement, because they fell, again. At least they wouldn't have to go through the horrors of another Aquatic Implosion again, because this time, they weren't dirtied up. Only because I hadn't chosen to shame them out and run past them.

"If you're going to rest again, then I'm not bothering." With that, I began walking towards the gates, fully expecting them to come after me, no matter just how exhausted they were. I was wrong. When I looked back, they hadn't moved. Presea was as deathly as always, Sheena was flat on her back, Zelos was flat on his face, Lloyd had a leg twisted under him, Genis was on top of his sister, who seemed to have carried him partway through their little march in the countryside, and Colette, was on her butt, holding her chest like there was something that would kill her if she let go.

"Okay, I give. I'm going to bother." With a sigh, I walked back to them.

_**45 minutes later**_

After helping with lunch and, as a result eating it (Meat Stew, invigorating, and a damn big boost of strength), we finally managed to get underway into Sybak, where the afternoon heat was beginning to sink in. Ugh. I always attempted to stay in the shade for dealing with it, but right now, it was only standing, and considering just where we were going, underground, it wouldn't matter, would it?

I was bringing the rear of the group while I was preoccupied, so I had no idea what was about to happen.

"Kratos! Are you trying to take Colette away!?"

I heard Lloyd's voice, which violently jolted me out of my thoughts as I whipped my head around for the person named. He was there in front of us, with his Judgment uniform that I recognized through my memories.

I could feel my limbs stiffening as I fought to keep my brain from unintentionally digging up another part of one of my most painful memories.

I saw Lloyd whip out one of his swords in a show of defiance. Kratos, however…

In his usual arrogant way, he said coldly "I do not wish to fight you inside the city."

In a flash, in the time it took to blink, he whipped out his sword, a finely polished silver one, I noted, and smashed the Kotetsu that Lloyd was holding on the tip and drove the hilt into Lloyd's torso. "Ahhh!" Lloyd yelped as he fell on his knees, winded.

Obviously, he wasn't exactly up to Kratos's level, was he?

Kratos calmly put his sword back into its sheathe with a jerk, fast, accurate, and he didn't miss a beat as he did it while he spoke either. "You still lack the skills to defeat me," he said arrogantly, looking down at the downed brunette with slightly sunken eyes, signifying… pity?

What the hell?

"Don't insult me!" Lloyd exclaimed in anger as he leapt to his feet, picking up his sword. Kratos, however, calmly put off the retort with a mocking "I merely speak the truth."

With that, he began walking in a rapid pace that made me tense for nothing, because he stopped his pace just before Colette who was in front.

"Chosen, if you wish to live, then you must remove that worthless key crest."

The Chosen of Sylvarant retorted in a determined voice, a far cry from her usual cheerfulness "No. I'm never taking it off. Lloyd gave this to me."

Kratos let out a snort. "Foolish sentiments." Then, as Colette moved out of Kratos's path…

My eyes, my gold ones met head on his, only hazel colored.

For a moment, I contemplated the startling similarities between my eyes and his. Both of ours were naturally cold. And, I somehow remembered at that instant that he had the ability to see far deeper into somebody's eyes in and therefore their soul and true emotions, just like me. I could see the slightly tortured and battered soul behind those hazel, unblinking eyes, and I bet he was seeing just what I was feeling right now.

To be exact, anger.

Then, I slipped into somewhere else. Namely, the past.

**VWVWVWVWV**

_I looked around thoughtfully. I liked using the wooden (although poor) representation of a regular sword. _

_But that wasn't my preferred weapon of choice. I decided to finally raise the issue. _

"_Can I have a bigger… stick?" I asked innocently at Kratos. He humphed, but he said "Go ahead." _

_I quickly ran over to the building that was to the right of the training ground where the others were training as well. That day, it was slightly crowded, but I didn't mind- If in reality I'd have to fight in much more cramped conditions than on the miniature field, then what was I supposed to do?_

_Noticing a particularly thick dummy sword, to be exact three times the thickness of a regular sword, the one that I had been previously using, which would have been called a branch when compared to the one I was examining. _

_I lifted it. Hefty weight, but that's one of the characteristics of cleavers that I had imagined. It was a stereotype, to be sure, as some cleavers could be light as certain metals were as hard and twice as light as steel, but I preferred the weighty ones. Or, if I couldn't have a cleaver, a medium weight sword. They usually reserved for adults as I could see in this world, but this was by my standards, so…_

_I picked it up and began walking back to the training ground, where my mentor was waiting impatiently. Once he saw me, though, his eyebrows arched in surprise. "You're going to fight with cleavers in the future?" he asked, following common knowledge that what you fought with the most during childhood was the best indicator of what you used in the future._

"_I thought you liked regular swords" he continued. _

"_I hate them" I said snappishly. He raised an eyebrow again. "They have no weight, no edge, and therefore absolutely no efficiency when you need to kill somebody fast."_

_I hefted the makeshift wooden imitation of a cleaver up to my shoulder, totally unaware what would happen next. Which would leave me with lasting scars, and lasting memories. _

_Painful ones. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

I hated thinking about that incident. It left me too ashamed to reveal the scar on my forehead that was the result of that day I first chose to stray away from normal styles and go my own way.

Who cared? I doubted that I could have resisted hiding my distaste for being trained under other people for long, so I guess that incident would have manifested itself in some other form in a few more weeks after that one. Or days, even.

"Would you care to move?" Kratos asked coldly. I stared back at him.

"I'd prefer for you to go around, thanks very much" I retorted in the exact same tone of voice.

For what seemed like half an hour we stared at each other. Thankfully, we had arrived at Sybak just after lunch was over, so everyone was in the classrooms, leaving nobody to watch my adversary's confrontation with me. Finally…

With a humph, he walked to the left of me and disappeared out of my vision.

Silence returned to the entrance of the university town, where the others stared over my shoulder, in a trance. Finally, when he was out of sight, when I looked over my shoulder like everyone else, I turned and snapped my fingers. My left hand, of course, it's obvious that you can't snap your fingers when using a hand that's gauntleted.

"He wasn't after Colette?" Lloyd said, still staring out at the distance, but I could see he had been affected by my little finger snap. Obviously, he had jumped a little. Lesson on interrogation- If the guy makes a jump, or tries to, then it means that you have officially half-smashed his psyche. If you're unlucky, it might just be a hiccup.

Zelos chimed in. "Man, what an arrogant son of a-"

I cut him off. "Swearing, mister," I said lazily. Sheena also chimed in "While we're talking, why don't you do something about the vulgar language?"

"Hehehe…" Zelos chuckled.

"Let's go see this Kate person." Raine cut in, and with that, we marched on.

I did it mechanically. Even though they might think I was obviously unaffected as usually by my encounter and stare-off with Kratos, I was really having a heated argument with myself.

_Why didn't you just hit him, idiot?_

Do you think I've gone that far in the path of insanity to do that?

_You're partly insane, so yes._

Damn you.

_That's all you can say? For heaven's sake, he left you with a scar that will never heal, even if what you are lets you last of eternity. _

Don't you think I know that? Sheesh, I know you're my unforgiving, angry, raging side, but that goes way too far.

_Just how?_

The fast is it's been a thousand years since that… incident happened. Can't I just forgive him? I can't change it. So what if there really is something that can change time, I don't have it. Which means, yes there is.

_Ah, yes, the Eternal Sword. So get it, idiot!_

How? I'll be slaughtered.

_Get the people right next to you to help, duh!_

They don't completely trust me. Even if they are serious about reuniting the 2 world, then how are we supposed to get it? They can't go to the tower of Salvation, I think they can though, but how are they going to survive against angels for heaven's sake? They filled me up about that stupid idiot named Remiel who was Colette's so-called father, and they barely survived. Well, they kicked his ass to hell, but… They were wounded enough to have been slaughtered by mister Kratos here.

_So? From what, you, and therefore I, heard, they managed to last 10 minutes in a 4-on-1 battle against the bastard._

That's impressive, but that was 4 on one. So he always had the clear advantage. And for heaven's sake, they used items, so that counted as cheating for them.

_Well, you've got more people on this side now, don't you?And apparently for them, more items…._

Who're you kidding? Apparently, Lloyd got pretty grumped up about it, since Kratos was holding back.

…_Oh. Damn you. _

Damn you right back.

* * *

How was it? This is one of my first "self-conversation chapters" just to let you know. 

Kendal: I have… a split sided personality?

Me: Yes. Wait, no-

Kendal: (sulks) You f-

Me: (tapes his mouth again)

Kendal: MMMMMPH!!!! (NOOOOOOOOOO!!!)

Me: That's for your mouth.


	19. Tunnel Not sewer chaos

Well, here's another chapter in Grudges, and PLEASE REVIEW THIS ONE!!!

Kendal: God, you're begging? To nobody in particular?

Me: Er, yes? Oh wait… (Tapes his mouth)

Kendal: Mph! Mph! Mmmmph! (GOD, NOT AGAIN!)

Me: Yay, I found my anti-Kendal-badmouth weapon! W00t! Namely, duct tape! (dances)

Kendal: Mmmmmph! Mrrrph! Mmmmrrrph! (I SWEAR I'LL FIND A WAY TO RENDER THIS STUPID ANTI-ME WEAPON TOTALLY OBSOLETE!)

* * *

As this group of people I was in walked towards the place where I supposed this Kate woman was (Before going into sight of the town's inhabitants, I took off my scarf furtively), I couldn't help but notice that Lloyd was still red in the face, which was turning into a shade of red that was an exact same color as his clothes. So… 

"Uh, Lloyd?" I asked. He turned grumpily towards me. "What?"

The reply had come more forcefully than I imagined, which was saying something, since I had expected his reply to be of the same intensity as an Eruption spell. The tone of voice he was saying it was on the same level as a, say, Spiral Flare.

Nonetheless, I decided to go forward with my original question. "Why do you look like you're about to explode? I mean the color of your face is on par with your clothes, so…"

"I'm not like that!" he barked.

"Feel your face," I advised slyly, "and tell me what you feel."

He did that. His red face, combined with his expression, said Why-The-Hell-Am-I-Doing-This! when…

Lloyd's face looked horrified as his face color, recently so full of redness, became whiter than snow. He began stuttering "Well… I, um… err…"

"Spit it out," I commanded as we walked deeper into Sybak. He sighed. "I guess I'll tell you…"

"You see, at the Tower of Salvation, in Sylvarant-"

"Where Kratos betrayed you guys and you became devastated by the one and only Yggdrasil?" I had to keep myself from saying Yggdrasil with bitterness, because like Yuan, he owed me something.

Something just as serious and something just as bloody.

"Yes, he did," Lloyd sighed, "And even worse, I realized the moment we clashed swords that he was-"

"Holding back?" I asked, cutting in. He looked at me in surprise. "How did you know-?"

"Sheena told me (**A/N**: Remember the skit in the Sylvarant Base after you're in the Tower of Salvation?). She said that you were moping around a lot in that base of the Renegades" I replied.

"Oh."

The rest of the walk in Sybak continued in silence.

_**The area next to the Academy, later**_

"Wait a minute" I said out loud as we went past the Academy. The others all stopped and looked at me in curiosity.

"Why are we going past the Academy when we're going into it to meet up with this Kate woman?" I asked. "I know you guys are wanted, like me and all, but aren't we going to infiltrate the place through a window or something?"

They looked at each other. "Oh yeah," Lloyd said, "We forgot to tell you about her."

They continued walking past the Academy while Lloyd took it on to himself to fill me in.

"So, this woman is a half-elf, Presea's under this weird experiment that's robbed her emotions, and-" I summarized after Lloyd told me everything, not noticing…

"OWWWW!!!"

The dead end.

Once I stopped wincing, Sheena, barely keeping back a guffaw, pointed downwards to a manhole cover that I was sitting on.

God, I had to deal with more manholes?

All I could do was groan and pry it open, revealing (To my relief) not a river of sewage or dampness, but rather what looked like a tunnel. The fact that there wasn't any thing else except a damp smell was only a bonus.

"And you guys escaped from that place underground through here?"

I, always loving to be inside a place first, hopped down inside, without bothering to use the rungs in the side of the inverted tunnel leading underground. Landing softly, I pushed myself to a standing position from the squat that was induced through my fall, and then moved out of the way as Lloyd climbed down.

I looked around me. There was a trickle of water at my feet, which was the origin of the dampness that I smelled. That came from a mesh to my right, so I supposed we go to our left. I looked that way, and viola, there's a branching tunnel. One was completely dry, but the other was wet, considering that the trickle of water that I just noticed flowed to there.

I jabbed a finger at the dry tunnel. "We go there?" I asked, my voice echoing through the sewer system. I supposed we could be heard by somebody if we were unlucky enough to have come in here when a maintenance worker was here. Then again, considering that Sybak was notorious for its negligence of the tunnels that ran beneath it, A.K.A. the sewers, that wasn't what you'd call likely.

They nodded, so I walked my pace again, leaving the other behind. As usual.

_**At the bottom level of the Academy**_

As the tunnel sloped downwards and into darkness, I resisted the urge to charge my exsphere inside my right wrist with mana, to light up the sewers. Even though I desperately wanted to, I knew that that's an out pouring of information with silence, and, if they were inquisitive enough, well, it could lead to me being forced to reveal everything about me.

Or, I'd be forced to kill them. Which I desperately didn't want to. For heaven's sake, they just might be the weirdest contemplation of heroes, ever, but hell, they were the only ones that knew about the real nature of Cruxis, and besides, they had already accepted me, hadn't they? Something nobody had done for years… and years…

My outstretched gauntlet hit something metallic that sent a sound of (obviously) metal hitting metal. After only some 30 seconds, did I make it…?

There was nothing else to do, but wait, leaning on the dead end. Was it a dead end, anyway? I decided to wait. Most likely it was the entrance to the bottom lab that the half-elves were in…

**VWVWVWVWV**

The others heard a sound echo through the Sybak underground. It rang for a moment before going into the other areas of the network of tunnels. Lloyd went significantly faster, until…

He tripped over his own feet.

Lloyd, yelping, didn't realize that in his moment and yell of panic, he made the other panic as well, inciting a stampede and replying chorus of shouts from the others and hurting the very sensitive ears of a certain person dressed in brown.

Lloyd, unluckily went straight over his own head and began rolling downwards to who knew where in the darkness of the tunnel. Well, he did, but his mind wasn't on it right now, was it?

**VWVWVWVWV**

I involuntarily winced as the echoing yells reverberated through the very solid and therefore very reflective concrete walls of the underground.

I heard other yells come as a response the original outburst, and added my own roar to the mix: "YOU EXSPHERE EQUIPED IDIOTS DON'T NEED TO YELL THAT LOUD YOU SONS OF-"

I didn't get to finish. Something in the darkness slammed into me in my midsection, hard. I heard the impact reverberate through the wall that my back was leaning on.

I choked involuntarily as the air blasted out of me. Well, half, since my stomach immediately tightened the moment the impact struck me. Immediately, more like instinctively, I balled and then swiped my left hand upwards in an uppercut, which promptly struck with a loud-

_Crack._

I heard something, or someone fall with a thump and a soft moan of pain. I heard the yell of a certain Chosen of Mana of panic, amplified because of the echoing quality of the walls.

My mind quickly formulated a "desperado" plan. I used my right hand to grope blindly for my daggers, or at least one of them. Interestingly, I found one on my first try, and immediately jammed it into the concrete to the right of me, hoping that I could create an impromptu source of light-

It worked. That's all I had to say. From the point of impact, sparks flew, illuminating the tunnel briefly, but enough to see…

**VWVWVWVWV**

Zelos was running in a desperate attempt to correct his balance that had been out of whack completely since Lloyd's little "yell". Now, he was on his toes, literally- The only thing that was stopping him from falling flat on his face was the fact that he was running as hard as he could on his toes. Now, though…

The now wanted Chosen was blinded by a rash of sparks that flew from what seemed like a dagger, and immediately, following instinct, the only thing that he currently could follow, anyway, he jumped, bashing his head against the top of the tunnel in the process, scraping it for a few seconds before his screaming, sobbing body came downwards and-

**VWVWVWVWV**

Was promptly kicked in the face by someone. Me, of course.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Zelos felt the lighting fast pain of something hit his face, which sent his feet flying behind his back, so his butt would slam into whatever there was first. Then his legs. Then, of course, his head.

**VWVWVWVWV**

When I slashed my knife against the wall again for the second time, after getting a grip of the chaos that was decneding on this network of tunnels, I realized in my shock that the (in my opinion) cross-dressing Chosen was flying towards me, head first. So, given the fact that nobody likes to be smashed in the face with a head, or anything else, for the truth, except suicidal people, I did the only sensible thing.

I jammed my knife in the wall, bringing up a new cloud of sparks, and threw myself upwards, so my back was parallel with the tilted floor, and did an augmented drop kick that connected solidly with both of my feet in which I could only see as the surprised face of Zelos Wilder.

The force of my strike ripped my embedded knife from the wall, bringing me crashing down on my back. The dagger/lighting material sent up a cloud of sparks that illuminated the tunnel again, which gave me the advantage of sight again-

Wait. I could see the seat of white pants slowly coming down on my face. The person shouldn't be coming down this slow; he didn't have a grip on the wall, which was impossible, unless you had something sharp in your hands. This person coming down on me didn't, it was in a sheath. And besides, if they did have a grip like that on the wall again, they wouldn't be coming down so fluidly. So…

My weird, literally "slow-mo" sense had to be kicking in. It was something weird about me that let me see things so slowly, I could move out of the way at insane speeds. Well, insane slow speeds, like as if time had slowed down, and everything, so it meant I slowed down as well. And right now, as I watched the behind of a person with long red hair-

What the- Long red hair?

At last, it chimed in. When I had given Zelos the drop kick, it had sent his body up into a back flip, so, what would hit me in the face was…

The behind of Zelos Wilder.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!"

That was me. For once, I screamed. I had to. I mean, if he was on me, he might fart on me, or shit in his pants for all I knew so…

I did the next only sensible thing to do in this situation. I opened up the palms of both hands, releasing the dagger, and as the last spark faded…

I slammed both of my hands into something. I prayed desperately to whatever was in heaven, or whatever other worldly realm there was, that both my hands had just hit something soft, squishy, and served as a very sensitive spot that was perfect for punishment-

"WHO THE HELL HIT MY ASS-"

The yell, albeit a very indignant one, was instantly cut off with a loud _bang_ signifying collision with something metallic.

Yay. Then, I scooted forward, away from the metal dead end and falling body of Zelos that I swore had only been an inch away from a spike of my hair when it came down.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Genis had almost stumbled into the dark tunnel when the first yelp had assaulted his senses, away from the flickering torch that was the only source of light in their current underground location. Albeit a very weak one. Now, though….

He and his sister stared open mouthed at the mayhem that was going on.

First, an interrupted rant, by Kendal. Then, a loud thump, which apparently was the one that interrupted the rant followed by a loud _crack_ and a moan of pain. Then, a glut of sparks lighting up the tunnel that was supposed to lead to the underground laboratory that the Kate woman was supposed to be in. Genis saw Zelos jump straight to the illuminated end of the tunnel, with Sheena sliding in panic in the seat of her black tights just behind him. Then, a loud thump again, another glut of sparks, then a yell of bewilderment and confusion and indignation, another loud noise, and metallic _bang_ and finally…

**VWVWVWVWV**

After Zelos slid down behind my head- Well, _immediately _he slid down behind my head, I slashed the wall instinctively with my dagger, for what seemed like the tenth time. Well, in reality, it was only the fourth, but so much was happening that my mind was becoming dizzy. Normally, in battle, it wasn't, since so much happened in battle as well, but my mind was created for battle, and this wasn't what my consciousness was made for, was it?

Another glut of sparks, and suddenly, I saw Sheena bear down at me at an insane speed. I could see her eyes shoot up with surprise when she first saw this glut of chaos, with me lying flat on my back looking at her, Lloyd sprawled to my left, and Zelos- Well, I had no idea what condition Zelos was in, but who cared about him, anyway?

So, I did another of my "Only-sensible-thing-of-the-moment" actions.

I quickly began to rake my dagger up and down, bringing a rapid shower of sparks and a constant source of light, good for timing. I could tell that at the speed that Sheena was sliding, feet first, that I had to be able to do what I needed to do within 3 seconds. After that, I could prepare myself for another winded stomach, this time perhaps 2 times harder than Lloyd's impact, given that Sheena was sliding towards me in a much faster fashion, and she was basically going to spear me with 2 feet; An obvious law of physics is that if an object is more streamlined and narrow, much unlike Lloyd when he had slammed into me, then the impact would amplified. Bad for me.

Very. The only thing left for me to do was to counter whatever momentum that Sheena had gotten as she slid down the tunnel. So…

I drew my legs together, then, I snapped them outwards. Just as Sheena hit them when they were withdrawn.

The impact sent my head straight into what I could only figure as the nose of somebody, because whatever I hit caved in, with the addition of a rather warm liquid on some of my hair's spikes. I had no idea where a certain ninja in purple might be, but I had a good idea because a second after my collision with somebody, another person slammed into my chest with full force, enough for my breath to all blast out in one fell swoop…

The little, misshapen group of people I was in lay there for what seemed like hours, until I heard Lloyd groan "Owww… what happened?"

"You tell me," I said gruffly, not bothering to say anything else, except get to my feet and retrieve my dagger which had fallen when somebody had, err, hit me…

Somehow though, my legs were trapped under another person's weight. Growing expatriated, I flopped my hand blindly in the dark for my tool of light, which I found only after I, frustrated, punched whoever was lying on me in the face, or so I thought. Because I had punched something soft, and when my left hand collided with whoever and whatever I hit (I couldn't risk using my gauntlet, it would seriously do murder if I used it), the mystery person yelped so loudly that, given the echoing nature of the tunnels, I couldn't hear a damn indication about whether the voice was male of female. Oh well, at least I got the person off me.

Slashing the wall again, which I was sure was pocket marked with scratches now, I looked, and…

Almost choked. Well, no I did choke. Because, unless my eyesight was horrible, the person that was formerly on me was…

One girl named Sheena Fujibayashi.

She happened to be lying on her side, but I could clearly see where I had hit her. Because it was obvious that she was the one on me, because Zelos was behind me, I think, Lloyd was far to my left, and there was no bruise visible, and speaking of bruises…

She had a large one on one of her… appendages… which meant, I had just hit her… there.

Lucky she wasn't awake. She would have done a really bad case of abuse on me, and I had nobody to count on for protection. Because I was a witness to one of her acts of cruelty against Zelos Wilder, so didn't that count as a warning?

Lucky she was knocked out….

Well, to make a long story short, Zelos woke up first, and began moaning constantly, forgetting that he could simply cast First Aid on himself. Well, that's sheer idiocy to you. And yes, he marched out of the tunnel later with a still broken nose.

Oh, and then, he tried to make the moves on Sheena, she conveniently woke up, and, upon seeing that one of her breasts were red, she started whaling on Zelos in the dark. Too bad Zelos didn't move out of the way, she would have just hit a wall. But no, he had to be in the dark and stay there, sounding pitiful enough that I'd almost feel pity for him. Yeah. Right.

And then, Lloyd finally got up, wiped the blood from his mouth, got open the stupid metal things, and viola, while Sheena was still whaling on poor Zelly most of the gang, including the half-elves, who had mischievous smiles which was an obvious indicator that they had heard, and seen every episode of our little episode at the end of the tunnel.

This is where I remembered the fact that this was where the half-elves were. They were the only ones here, for every year of the last 200 years of Tethe'Alla's years of prosperity, and, if I remembered correctly, this was because half-elves had astonishing rates of people who had mental genius.

Sure, everyone else, elves and humans, they all had geniuses among their midst, but they definitely weren't treated _this_ way, locking them up in a damp basement locked up 24/7 with no relief in sight. Sometimes, I wondered if going to hell was much better than this.

I looked around. 2 half-elves. Wow. All time low. Most of the time, the Academy would usually have at least 4 in here, but only 2? Really…

The male one looked up. "You have business with Kate, right?" he asked. Then he walked over to a green haired female and gently shook her shoulder.

"What?" she said quickly, snapping her head up. Then she saw us, and quickly began walking towards us. "It's you!"

Lloyd quickly came up to the front of the group, where I promptly gave up the position of being first and retreated to the back. "We're saved our friends and we came back with Presea just like we promised."

I saw this Kate person scan the room for the Sage sibling, until she found them, locking them with her eyes. For a second, I wondered just how she found out they were half-elves just by looking, then I remembered. She had to be a half-elf to be in this hellhole. She just sensed them.

Just like me from the very first moment I met Genis and Raine Sage.. And I wasn't a half-elf.

After a pause, this Kate girl said "Yes, you're right. The strange mix of mana from the fusion of human and elven blood… You really must have half-elf friends."

Raine spoke up. "We've heard the story. Is it true that Presea's creating a Cruxis Crystal inside her body?"

"Yes, that's correct," Kate replied coolly, "we call it the Angelus Project."

I raised an eyebrow, then I realized that Lloyd had just muttered in a surprised tone "The Angelus Project! That's… That's the project my mom was in…" At this I arched both eyebrows. Lloyd's mom was creating a Cruxis Crystal inside her body?

_Lucky idiot,_ I thought to myself bitterly, _you actually had a mom. You don't know what's it like to know that you had no parents. That you were created._

I heard a soft pattering as Presea ran to another corner of the dungeon and stay there, facing the corner. Apparently wanting to look anywhere except Kate.

Kate continued. "The exsphere itself is nothing special. It's just that we placed a key crest on it that's abnormal. The key crest delays the parasitic process of the exsphere for up to a few days or some years. It seems that this causes the exsphere to mutate into Cruxis Crystals."

"Is the parasitic process of the exsphere the reason that Presea's emotional response is so subdued?" Raine asked.

"So she's just like Colette..." Genis mused, his voice trailing off. Colette, looking shocked, said "What's going to happen to Presea if she remains like this?"

"She dies," Kate said simply.

A silence filled the laboratory after that. I couldn't help but think that even for me, the prospect of not being able to think or protest as something slowly ate away at you…

It was so cruel.

"That's horrible!" Genis burst out, violently breaking the silence. "What did she ever do to you!? Please save her!"

"She didn't do anything except match the compatibility test," Kate said, simply.

"And besides," Kate continued, "She's eligible to be in a new project, and she's the best pick that that one project had in years. But-" she said, catching the look in Lloyd's eye "I'm going to release her from Angelus project and the other one, which is called-"

"-The Damascus-"

My eyes went wide.

"-Project."

I unconsciously choked violently.

_What? They're trying to create more… _

_More of my race? More people who are born with the knoledge that they never had parents and never will? Is that it?  
_

* * *

Kendal: Finally, you let peeps know just who I am! After 20 chapters… 

Me: Well, it's for plot purposes….

Kendal: So? Bad writing, Mister!

Me: (kicks when nobody looks)

Kendal: OWWWW!!! Stop abusing me! Don't make me call the police!

Me: Police don't exist in Tethe'Alla, Sylvarant. So how did you know about them, anyway?

Kendal: I read Police Monthly!

Me: (sweatdrop) I don't even know any magazine called that…

Kendal: I made it up! Well, yeah, I just read the Virginia Massacre thingy… man, this world is violent…

Me: (sweatdrop) Ah, and by the way, it seems that Spiritua mistook my "self-argument" thing for a split sided personality. And he did, too. (jabs finger) And she. (jabs finger in general direction of sky)


	20. Another confrontation

Finally, more people other than my usual fans reviewed…

Kendal: Well, hell, what're you thinking? That's you can just charm people to the story just by ranting about peeps who don't review?

Me: YES!

Kendal: What?

Me: Yes, I think that! The psychology people in my latest issue of New Scientist… (goes on and on)

Kendal: (sweatdrop) What's New Scientist?

Me: A science magazine. Now, GO AWAY AND START ADVERTISING!

Kendal: I'M NOT YOUR EMPLOYEE!!!

Me: OH YES YOU ARE, I OWN YOU!

* * *

I could only listen numbly through the explanations of how to cure Presea, all the while, thoughts screaming there way from one place. All I could really pick up, though was hearing "Altessa" and "Lives in Gaoracchia Forest". Other than that, all I heard was an outburst of "Don't call him a pathetic old man!" By who, I had absolutely no idea.

When I heard "Then it's settled, let's head over to the Gaoracchia Forest" I snapped out of my numb trance of thoughtfulness, and proceeded to march out through the tunnel and up to the surface (I happen to note that the passage to the tunnel was cleverly disguised as a bookshelf) and, to the surprise of myself and many, stumbled.

I stumbled over my own foot, almost being forced to flip to stay on my feet. Somehow, I managed to have to jump to regain my balance, but hell; I was getting angry at myself, and pretty much everything.

I had no other way. I just wanted to kill someone badly. Whoever was in charge of making the Damascus Project come to life again, I desperately wanted to kill them with violence. Insane amounts, preferably.

Shoving open the manhole cover, barely visible in the light of the flickering, low-burning torch, I crawled out after furtively poking my head out of the manhole and flittering my eyes around. Coast. Is. Clear.

I waited nervously for a few seconds, feeling slightly nervous about my scarf being off. I had always hung back when we were going into this place, to hide what was on the back of my neck.

So, I took off my scarf again, and, as a precaution, leaned against the dead end.

Nobody would be seeing just how hideous my neck was in that position, unless they'd be the wall itself. But that was impossible under the normal laws of physics, and I was sure that even Gnome, the summon spirit of earth would be very miffled at being mistaken for a wall. Well, that's life, right?

The others thankfully didn't have to make a loud and noisy entrance. Thankfully, that was because I had left the manhole cover off so they wouldn't have to make noise, and therefore get us captured. I simply hated how they had a damning lack of intelligence sometimes, but hell, geniuses hate every person that's not as smart as them, right?

I had made a silent entrance on this deserted-now slightly-crowded scene, anyway…

I shot them another of my annoyed what-the-hell-took-you-exsphere-equipped-idiots-so-long which they promptly dropped their heads in embarrassment. I sighed. Ugh.

_**Outside of Sybak**_

I got my scarf back on after we were outside of the city. Behind their backs, of course. "Are we really going to the Gaoracchia forest?" I asked as we headed north to there. Lloyd nodded.

"We're supposed to go through the Forest of Death?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Everyone but the Tethe'Allans eyed me back. "The Forest of Death?" Genis asked curiously. I nodded.

"It's supposed to have been infested with monsters even when Tethe'Alla's prospering" I informed them. "I should know- When did you guys start this regeneration ritual of your again?" I asked.

"Oh, a few months ago, maybe 3" Colette said politely.

"The last time I was there, the place was infested with ghouls, phantoms, coffinmasters… You name it. And that was half a year ago." They stared at me, shocked. "What?" I snapped. "I go there sometimes, to go to Ozette for reasons that I'm not going to tell."

"Hey you!" Zelos called. I turned. "Yeah, you! Tell these country folk what you did to be on the most wanted criminal in Tethe'Alla for decades!"

Decades, he was right. The last time I had been known as a criminal, that was a century ago, give or take. I wasn't going to bother counting. "Why should I?" I called sarcastically.

"Because they've got no idea why you're the only one who can scare the great and beautiful Zelos!" he laughed manically.

Thank the heavens and what ever there was above, because I just knew how to show the Sylvrantians another example of how to torture Zelos Wilder.

I looked around for the departed redhead, and spotted him conveniently attempting to sneak up on Sheena who seemed to have let her thoughts wander. I slowly let a grin creep over my face. Just what I needed to send Zelos Wilder to hell. Temporarily, anyway.

I quickened my pace to the point that if somebody normal with a regular exsphere would have tried to catch up with me, they'd tire in thirty seconds. Hah. To make things simple, in a few seconds, I was in front of Sheena, and therefore in front of everyone's favorite womanizer.

Thankfully, Sheena had her head down on the ground which is well and good, because in order to make my scheme work, Sheena would have to have no idea that I was in front of her and giving out the cold look. The ice-cold look, anyway.

Now, Zelos was now a mere step behind the purple-clad ninja. Apparently, given the tenseness of his legs, he was preparing to pounce on the unsuspecting ninja who had no idea of the semi-sex predator behind him.

I shot him the "ice" glare. I wasn't disappointed.

The moment he saw me, he was in the middle of his pounce. He was about to anyway- I caught him in my eyes when he was on his toes, therefore making him wave his arms around wildly.

His out stretched arms, flailing instinctively, whapped Sheena on a purple-clad shoulder, snapping her out of her stupor and giving herself the signal for an instinctive backhand slap.

I watched glassy-eyed as a blur (what appeared to be Sheena's hand) whirled around and….

_WHACK._

The sharp crack echoed (to me, anyway) through the Sybak countryside, snapping me out of my enchanted trance as I jerked my head in surprise. Damn, how the hell did Sheena manage to snap that hard?

Zelos, the unlucky one, fell backwards, slamming into the ground with a weird look on his face, his eyes unfocused and rolling slightly in their sockets. With a thud as different as the sound made from Sheena's previous slap could be, he hit the grass with a spaced-out look. Obviously, totally knocked out.

Sheena went into a state of semi-rage-induced insanity, dropping to the grass and smashing the unresponsive body of Zelos Wilder with everything that could be used a weapon. Well, that wasn't correct, she exclusively used her hands, but they were moving so fast that they blurred the air and seemed to be every part of her body that could be used a weapon.

"You know he's knocked out, right?"

I had to say it- We were only a few miles from the entrance of the Gaoracchia, and when there's monsters, every person possible is needed for fighting for their lives in there. Every person. And that included idiot perverts.

She looked around at me and the others, all standing there looking comically stunned, with open mouths included, while I fought the now gnawing urge to laugh out loud in a huge attempt to remain stoic.

_**Sunset, the outskirts of the Gaoracchia Forest**_

It's not the best place to be in when it's dark, the Gaoracchia Forest. Well, actually, it's the worst, really. The monsters there, whether they're living or undead, they all have nocturnal vision that's suited for the forest's darkness, even in day. Because, the worst thing that can happen to you is to get lost in the forest of death at dark. Most likely, nobody will ever find you again.

When, they're lucky enough, they might find a few tatters of whatever you wore before you met your untimely end, but that's it, the monsters don't just eat flesh, they eat bone as well.

Too bad for us- We were now on the outskirts of the forest that invited death, and to compound matters, it was sunset. Well, time to set up camp.

However, apparently, Lloyd decided to just charge straight in. "Whoa!" he yelped upon seeing just how the trees completely blotted out the dying light of the sun from reaching the forest floor. "It's so dark!" Colette exclaimed in her usual cheery voice. I couldn't resist shooting her a raised eyebrow- Who was cheery because it was dark?

"Think we should set up camp?" I asked. "This forest is the worst place to be in the dark, even if you're armed with the best possible weapons of all. And armor. And all sorts of things."

And as if to arm my words with more reasons, a group of Papal Knights popped on to the scene.

Just who I needed to see.

"Whoops," Zelos snickered nervously, "It's the-

"-dumbass Papal knights again" I finished for him. Finally, something we could both get along with.

"Zelos, the Chosen." One of them said in a monotone. "You are in the way of the Pope."

"I've known that since I was a kid," he said, chuckling.

"Then that makes things simple" the leader said. I could swear that if his face wasn't hidden behind a grille, then everyone could see a smirk that obviously radiated a rather blown-up ego that had swelled in size only seconds before. "It's time for you to die."

I had already done a quick count of them- There were only 7 of them, and 8 of us. Easily, we outnumbered them. Well, not easily, but at least we simply had more _variety_ in our little rouge party than them- Healers? Raine. Check. Spellcasters? Genis, check. General brawlers? Presea. Sheena, Lloyd, check. Jack-of-all-trades: Me, Colette, and Zelly over there. Spellcaster/Swordsmen/What-the-heck hybrids? Us. Check.

In other words, they were hopelessly outmatched. They might get lucky and get to give us a serious wound or something, but so what? We had everything and anything to take care of stuff like that. Namely, gels, life bottles, the list went on and on.

Immediately, they charged. Typical. They knew they were at a horrible disadvantage, given from the numbers part of the deal, but they knew that we had spellcasters on our side. So, they decided to go ahead and do the first, devastatingly quick move.

Groaning at the sheer obviousness of their tactics, I lazily pulled out my cleaver and called out while slashing the air hard "Aeroslicer!"

I could feel the air suddenly move faster in the wake of a pale blue shockwave that was flying through the air, churning air in its wake as it went charging straight towards the wall of green-armored men.

This was why I called this little trick of mine "Areoslicer," because, whether you liked it or not, it sliced through pretty much anything and everything. Ideally, flesh. Hence, the "slicer" part of the word. And there's always the fact that since it cuts through anything, it could easily cut through air, creating the sheer velocity of the wind around the blade of moving energy- That's what the "aero" part of the word stood for.

And, so, the little blade of energy flew towards the gang of Papal Knights who instinctively jumped out of the way. Well, they didn't. One of them, anyway. He was clipped by the edge of the shockwave in his side, and was sent flying haphazardly through the air- A tribute to just how much energy I put into that little technique.

Immediately, the others pulled out their own weapons, and began barraging the still-faraway Papal Knights with their own long range attacks, "Demon Fang!" Lloyd yelled. "Stone Blast!" Zelos shouted as the earth beneath the feet of the idiots shattered unceremoniously and blasted upwards, peppering our opponents with moderate-sized stones.

"Ray Thrust!" Colette cried out, following up a general chakram throw with a very strong one that buried itself in the torso of a random Papal Knight, causing a loud yell of pain. "Power Seal Pinion!" Sheena yelled, throwing one of her little cards, also known officially as guardians (I could never figure out why) at one of the Papal Knights, striking one of them on the arm and initiating shouts of rage. Well, you couldn't blame them when you had a bunch of weirdly dressed people kicking your asses, huh?

"Spread!" Genis yelled as a column of water blasted upwards from where several of our little adversaries were standing in disarray, sending 3 of them sky-high, smashing them through the thick, black canopy of the branches, and down again where they met their end with a sickening crunch of bone as their bodies smashed into the soft, but firm ground of the Gaoracchia forest.

I quickly jumped in, and attempted to bury a large blade into the chest of the closest Papal Knight, who somehow managed to block it, and counter by sharply tilting the ax end of the halberd he carried towards me. Jumping back, I raised my cleaver quickly up above my head and yelled "Dominating Blade!" sending him flying into a tree.

He went straight through it, with all the noise and confusion you could want from a guy smashing through a tree. A dead one, anyway. Or so I thought.

With a lurch of an orange pumpkin- What? Then I realized, to my horror, that I had just used a Dominating Blade at an angle that if anything was in front of me, it would hit a tree. Rather, one of the infamous monsters of the Gaoracchia Forest. A pumpkin tree. Literally.

Immediately, the… thing of the forest began crawling along the soft ground, slapping its roots into the soft earth and pulling itself along. I suddenly remembered that the key for killing a pumpkin tree was to slice off both its heads- Pumpkin trees were known to throw their "heads" at enemies, but the heads would magically disappear on the ground and reappear on the branches that the pumpkin/heads hung from.

You could have heard somebody's footsteps in the silence that fell, as everyone was transfixed at the sight of the pumpkin tree. It kept crawling forward, when finally…

I remembered. It's a horrible thing to let one of these, err, things get too close. Somebody had to smack these things from far away, and it was already only a few yards from me. Oh, no. The world's coming to an end. Like I'd let it.

I slashed the air again. "Areoslicer!" I yelled, as another very sharp blade of energy created another area of low pressure around me as it raced towards the stupid tree, which finally sensed that something was wrong…

And promptly had its left head slashed off.

A wild shriek filled the air throughout the forest. A gravelly, high shriek, to be accurate. The pumpkin tree thrashed wildly, the roots beating the earth beneath it into a pulp. I took this opportunity to jump the 10 feet, or at least attempt to. I could only make 9 of it, since I didn't have time to prepare for the leap, and therefore almost fall on my face. But, I was close enough to-

"Wolf fang!" I somehow managed to stand up straight again and reverse my grip on my cleaver, and stab, hard.

The dagger-like thrust was so powerful that the air rippled slightly before the before the blade managed to stop blurring. By then, the final, thrashing head fell with a thump, dropping to the brown dead soil of the Forest of Death.

I let a sigh of relief go out of mouth, which promptly turned into a grunt as I stumbled, the result of an ax colliding with my left shoulder's guard. I staggered, barely managing to turn my head through it all. I spotted a Papal Knight only a few feet away from me, his poleax already raised for another strike.

I wildly slashed at him, luckily managing to bury the edge of the cleaver in the side of my ambusher. Somehow. To be exact it was miracle that I even managed to hit him, since it was pure instinct that I managed to hit him at all. What the hell, who cared now. He was well and truly dead. I let my grip on the hilt of my sword loosen as both myself and my foe fell, one alive and perfectly clean, one very dead and bloody.

I fell on my side, barely remembering to slam the ground with my arm to avoid getting the wind knocked out of me, and looked up, slightly groggy as slamming your arm on the ground, while it takes out half the fall, still doesn't just let you hit the ground with any force you like. Unfortunately…

I saw that the Papal Knights, realizing that they had fresh prey, were charging at me, all 3 of the remaining ones. I heard the others yelling random amounts of long-range techniques in an attempts to stop them, but they simply side stepped them.

A.K.A.: I was on my own.

I whipped my head wildly in search of something to defend myself. Nope. My weapon of choice, my unnamed broadsword, was 5 feet away, tantalizingly just out of my reach. My daggers would have to do, even though they'd have a small chance at all of even managing to slow them down- Whether a dagger has a diamond edge or not, its still a dagger, and daggers are horrid when you need to penetrate a stupid suit of armor.

Then, I remembered something else. I knew I could cast spells, but I wouldn't have the time to get pull one off. But I knew something that I _could_ pull off in a second or two with a simply focusing of mana and an even simpler catalyst.

Namely, the snapping of my left hand. I could also do it with my right, but with a gauntlet, how the hell are you going to do that, anyway? Besides, I wouldn't have time to take it off. My left hand would have to do.

I focused on a spot where in very short notice the green-armored idiots were about to step on, and shoved all available mana I had at the moment, and…

They stepped on my designated spot. I snapped my fingers.

_**BOOOOOM.**_

With a loud rumbling that caused myself to screw my eyes shut and clap my hands over my sensitive ears and a bit of screaming, the spot on the ground exploded.

The earth immediately flew up in dark brown plumes as I saw some bodies and armor ripped off from the force of the explosion fly upwards, somehow through the gaps made by other bodies from Genis's Spread spell, and fall downwards with more cracks of branches and more dull thumps. And, from the looks of it, a quite a bit more blood, from the explosion and the fall.

I got up, shook my scarf free of dirt, and retrieved my broadsword, which I sheathed quietly.

That's when I noticed the silence that had fallen on the forest. It didn't even look like any monsters were doing their work of scaring people and making sound and such. Guess that's the effect an earsplitting explosion has, even in the heat of a fight, huh?

Finally, conversation broke out again. "We won," Genis said, slightly shakily, "But what do we do now?"

"What else?" Lloyd said. Obviously, he was pointing out the obvious. Obviously again. "Before they bring in reinforcements…"

"We get the heck out of here" Sheena finished. "But, where to?"

"Perhaps Altessa's place?" Colette quipped.

"Exactly!" Lloyd grinned.

My mouth dropped open. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

They wanted to go through the Forest of Death when it was so close to night?

Then I realized, as the others began running forward deeper into the forest, I was somehow making myself subconsciously walk with them. Towards somewhere between the devil and, well, I just couldn't figure out what else.

* * *

And, that's all for now, folks? Please R&R!

Kendal: Yeah, or else this idiot (dirty look at me) will maul me again-

Me: (mauls violently) I'm sorry, what?

Kendal: SEE??? THIS SICK, SICK SOB IS GOING TO DO MORE OF THIS UNLESS YOU REVIEW! **HEEEEELLLLLPPPP!!!!**

Me: Eh he (sweatdrop)


	21. In n' out

Kendal: W00T! 21rst chapter!

Me: You're celebrating because…

Kendal: Sooner or later, this thing is going to end, and I'm free of you!

Me: Until I write something else that involves you, of course.

Kendal: (sulks) Yeah, but-

Me: NO BUTS!

Kendal: Imperialist…

Me: What?

Kendal: Never mind, never mind…

* * *

Proceeding through the Gaoracchia Forest is not the easiest thing, even when it's the light of noon. Because the dark canopy of dead-looking branches that blanketed the forest basically soaked up pretty much all the sunlight that dared to come down on it.

To even see a single speck of sunlight when you're deep in the forest is a rarity- The forest's branches grew fast, so that even if there were sizable holes made in the top of the forest like the ones that the falling and rising bodies of the Papal Knights, they'd be replaced in a few days, leaving no trace of whatever incident made them. Well, the person who so happened to be idiotic (Like most of the gang I was in, whether I liked it or not) wouldn't know it at all from the looks of above, so what did it matter?

I angrily kicked a root that I had somehow stubbed my toe on, despite my best efforts to avoid an embarrassing "fall-flat-on-your-face" episode, which involved looking down on the ground every moment, even when monsters attacked.

Obviously, none had, which I was surprised at. It was common knowledge that monsters in this cursed forest stayed far, far away from the entrances, as to avoid even a patch of sunlight- Yes, they were that sensitive. I, myself, was shocked into thinking that they were afraid in whatever rotted minds they had of sunburn. Gimme a break, most of the monsters in here were _dead_. Why would they care about sunburn?

Well, not the tropical worms, pumpkin trees (I wished it wasn't so stupidly literal) or boxer irises. They stayed far away, and I had no idea why. So, I decided to get my head wrapped up in weird concepts when they simply weren't needed.

Speaking of boxer irises…

"Look! It's a plant on legs, and it's got one eye!"

That totally snapped me out of my thoughts and my silent ranting against stupid, randomly placed huge tree roots that served no purpose other than to trip people at inconvenient times. I looked up wildly, and saw to my horror, exactly what Colette described- A.K.A. a boxer iris.

Crap. Literally.

Colette began to run forward and might have gotten a good horrible amount of bruises and other stuff had I not yelled:

"WHAT THE DAMN HELL ARE YOU THINKING, YOU IDIOT?"

She whirled around, terrified just like anyone else as I rushed past her, my broadsword already out. The boxer iris, surprised, stepped back, giving me enough time to bury a certain cleaver held by me into the iris's eye all the way up to the hilt. I quickly withdrew it, sending it staggering back until it tripped over a tree root, falling flat on its back, where it went into last-moment spasms of death before its body went completely limp.

"K-Kendal!" I heard Colette shriek. "You didn't have to be that cruel-"

I slowly turned around, my eyes practically blazing. "I'm cruel?" I asked in a deadly voice, immediately causing Colette to clamp her mouth shut and to root everyone to the soft earthen floor like they were glued. Of course. I was giving them a premium death stare, courtesy of me.

"What the hell are you saying!" I shouted in rage, gesturing with my hands wildly, not bothering to sheath my blade. "That thing deserved to be _petted _like a_ cat _orsomething?"

Colette was shaking her head wildly. "N-no-"

"Then WHY THE HELL WERE YOU RUNNING UP TO IT!"

The entire forest turned silent at that roar of rage. And when I mean entire, I mean every living thing in it. Including humans and half-elves.

"THAT THING WAS A DAMN _MONSTER_, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE! AND YOU TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T WANT IT TO BE PETTED LIKE A FRICKIN' PET WHEN YOU WERE RUNNING TOWARDS IT? DENY _THAT_!"

"AND TELL ME ONE MORE THING, ARE YOU THIS DUMB? BECAUSE, IF YOU ARE, MOST LIKELY YES, THEN I DON'T SEE A DAMN REASON, OBVIOUS OR NOT, THAT YOU SHOULD EVEN BE WITH US RIGHT NOW!"

Colette, on the verge of tears, could only mumble a barely audible "Sorry" before I turned around, gave them one last dirty look, and stalked off.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Raine was rooted to the floor as Kendal gave Colette a very vicious scolding. Even though the brown-clad boy was 5 feet in front of her, Colette looked as if she had been slapped not only verbally, but physically.

When the hem of Kendal's scarf turned its back to the others, Raine was the first one to move, rushing up to Colette in an attempt to comfort the distraught girl. "Don't cry Colette…" she cooed.

However, the gold-haired girl kept crying with a passion that rendered Raine (For a second, anyway) speechless. "He's r-right…." Colette managed to say through the sobbing. "I-I'm too stupid to b-be on t-this j-journey…"

"No you're not!" Genis said forcefully. "He's just a biased son of a-"

"WERE YOU SAYING SOMETHING?"

Genis quailed immediately. "N-nothing!" he squeaked.

Lloyd began speaking again. "Colette, you're my best friend. I really don't think that you should leave this journey, no matter what anybody thinks." He looked hard into the tear-filled cerulean eyes. "Besides, if he yells at you again, I'll just yell back." He added, even though he had serious doubts about winning against Kendal in a shouting match, given the volume of his yells.

"Th-thank you, L-Lloyd" Colette sniffled before wiping her eyes and walking forward.

"Let's go," Lloyd called, and walked alongside with her.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I had to wait as the other comforted a distraught goldette. Well, hell, I couldn't help but be revolted slightly at the insane amount of cheeriness that practically radiated from every pore. Well, I was lying to myself. I was pretty much _totally_ revolted by her cheeriness. Like I was about to tell anybody but myself that anytime soon. Yeah, right.

I was standing besides another one of the Sorcerer's Ring altars. I really had no idea what would be next, but I suspected that whatever functions besides shooting out fire the Sorcerer's Ring would do, it would rock this world.

At least for this situation, at least for this place, anyway.

When they finally emerged from the gloom of the forest (sunlight even at the outskirts of the forest never traveled very far) I was tapping my finger to an imaginary beat on the altar. I had gradually increased the tempo in some weird hope that if I went faster the others would walk faster. Finally, when I was sure that my finger tips were going to implode with violence from the pressure, they appeared from the gloom.

Hurrying towards me, I watched with amusement as they tripped over roots and other things (Colette, my previous victim tripped over her own feet) in an attempt to not get a "what-the-hell-took-you-exsphere-equipped-idiots-so-long" look.

Which, of course, I gave them.

They lowered their heads, as usual. I sighed, before saying "Anyone knows the obvious thing to do here…?"

They did. Quickly, Lloyd ran forward, and placed the Sorcerer's Ring in the light that was floating on the altar. A bunch of sparks flew out, but it seemed that was it, until….

Lloyd held it out and clenched his gloved hand. Immediately, the Sorcerer's Ring began to fire a ray of light. Normally, I supposed that it would barely be seen in normal daylight, but now it was making my eyes water, thanks to my prolonged stay in this cursedly dark forest.

Meanwhile. Lloyd, always excited when something new happened, now that I had found out, was exclaiming with a loud yelp "Whoa! The Sorcerer's Ring emitted light!"

"It's like a lamp," Genis interjected.

"What do we use it for?" Colette, dumb as ever.

"This forest is dark," Raine said, unable to resist helping one of her students- She, after all, I supposed, was a teacher, and that was a teacher's job, right? "So," she continued, "Some of the plants here might react strongly to light." Then, she looked around, and spotted a few tropical worms that were crawling around, minding their own business.

"It could be used against some monsters-"

"It can't" I interjected. "It only works on plants and-"catching them in the act of asking about that pumpkin tree that I had previously killed "-that pumpkin tree was a monster, not a plant. Haven't you guys ever encountered maricoids or minicoids?"

"Yeah, we did," Sheena said, "But why do you ask-"Then realization dawned on her. "Oh…" she said, her words trailing off. The others looked at her, confused, until I said "Monsters can be any form you know, as animals, zombies and such, and, of course, mushrooms in the case of marc/minicoids and trees when we're talking about that pumpkin tree I killed," I finished, pointing off towards the gloom in which the pumpkin tree's remains were barely visible.

The others looked there, then looked back at me as if I was crazy, then I remembered. They didn't have my eyesight, so how the heck would they be able to see the remains, where in this gloom, would seem more than a mile away? Of course, it definitely wasn't, but unless you wanted to see it, you'd be better off seeing with my eyes. Even if they did use exspheres.

I quickly fumbled for an excuse for being able to see it and unintentionally point it out. "Well, that was an example, you know?" I said quickly, hoping desperately I didn't sound nervous. Maybe I said it too fast…

With that, I snatched the ring out of Lloyd's gloved hand, and began walking off.

It wasn't long before I began to see flecks of sunlight on the ground in the distance, and I knew that we had to be exiting the forest. Well, I would have voted for it in the first place, because the sun had now completely set, leaving a red sky sure to leave along with it in a few minutes and an experience that I suspected would give certain timid people some heart attacks.

It was obvious who, but we still needed every person we could to get through this hellhole, and right now, nighttime was the worst time for it. Time to ditch the place for a bit.

However, if I exited now, most likely they would turn again to the rather insane leadership of Lloyd Irving, prompting a total massacre, the way it was dark right now. So…

So I waited. This time, they didn't have me waiting- Officially acknowledging that I was the group's best guide, or most likely un-officially recognizing me as the group's best guide, to say the least, the immediately followed me, all the way to the northern entrance of the forest.

Panting as they caught up to me, they looked up with a confused expression on their faces, beaming obvious confusion of why they were at the exit. Apparently, Altessa lived far deeper in the forest than where this exit led to, for what I heard- We were really barely in the forest at all. So, why did I lead them here? Obviously, I was trying to get some rest, because I hadn't had a chance to convince the others that if they were going to survive in this compact earthly hell, then you had to survive when it was day. Obviously, night had just begun, and at night monsters affiliated with the dead- Undertakers, ghouls, ghosts, and the whole load of them- they would get stronger- They were, after all, monsters spawned from darkness.

"The forest is most dangerous at night," I told them. "The monsters get stronger at night time, and seeing that Papal Knights might be all over the forest, we're better off fighting only them and not strengthened monsters. Got it?"

They got it.

Well, they got the logic of it- We were better off fighting monsters when they were only at their normal level of power and not strengthened ones. So, all we needed to do was to wait out the night. And, hopefully, no squad of Papal Knights would bother to check the wasteland north of Sybak that I was leading them to.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Lloyd asked as he managed to catch up besides me.

"A wasteland north of Sybak," I responded. "Well, it's not really a wasteland; it's just that nobody bothers coming here."

"Why not?" Lloyd asked. I resisted rolling me eyes- It wasn't his fault that he happened to lack the academic intelligence that others had, to a much higher degree.

Note that I only said _academic_ intelligence. As I raised a finger to point out to the forest we were leaving, he suddenly said "Oh, I get it- This part of Tethe'Alla is isolated from the other parts by the Gaoracchia Forest, and nobody wants to come here, so…"

I nodded. He had pretty much summed up everything that made this area so desolate. Well, not desolate, this place was infested with insects, the big and bad type, as well as some bandits who somehow got here and could never get the courage to go back through the forest. So, in fact, this area was pretty much brimming with monsters and not-so-nice people who'd just love to get a kick out of robbing us.

As if to confirm that thought...

As we were about to exit the trail between some conveniently placed wall of rock and the ocean that signified the north entrance to the Gaoracchia Forest, a gang of bandits were waiting for us.

"Hello pretties," one of them said. He had to be the leader, since he was at the head of the pack of thieves. He looked at us through a masked face and smiled, displaying rows of brown, slightly rotting teeth.

"Just hand over your money, little ones, and we'll be nice to you…"

"Oh, like we're _really_ going to hand over our loot _you_ filthy idiots living in this hellhole," I said sarcastically.

It really didn't go down with them too good.

The others behind the leader made angry noises, and some began readying whatever weapons they had on them. The leader, however, still thinking that he could swindle us, continued his useless attempts to flatter us. "That's nice lookin' sword you got there, kid" he said slowly, as if he was measuring every word he said.

"Yeah," I responded, "It's good one."

"Y'wanna lemme see it for a bit? C'mon-"

"No thanks, not interested," I responded, and began walking through. However, the leader immediately blocked me from going any further, along with the others in his gang. He looked at me with an annoyed look in his eyes as we stared eye to eye.

"You wanna pass, you gotta let me see it" he said. I could tell that he was at the end of his straw, so I decided to end this annoying encounter with these idiots.

I backed up. "Here," I said in a docile tone, swinging my much-wanted-broadsword out of its sheath.

I could practically see his eyes sparkle with greed that was flowing from every pore. "Give it here!" he said hoarsely, too mesmerized with the fact that a blade of the highest quality with a diamond edge was right in front of him, and he was going to steal it…

Too hypnotized to remember that the first line of weapons protocol is to never trust anyone who offers their weapon blade-first. Because someone who does it obviously doesn't trust you, and can pull it back at any time.

Or, in my case run the person being offered the sword would be run through. Only fitting, considering that this guy wrapped in gray, dirty cloth wanted to steal it.

The moment his fingers touched the edge, I did it. I shoved myself to the left of my adversary, in the process, shifting my grip to the dagger-styled hold, and…

"Wolf Fang!"

The air was rippling as the blade began plunging forward into a dirtied gray-clothed chest, easily ripping though the vital organs of the chest. The guy had no chance, whatsoever. He didn't even get to make a sound as his heart was instantly shredded into fragments from the layer of disturbed air from the sheer force of my thrust. Quickly jumping back, I watched, vindictive, as the body of the rouge slammed into the ones behind him. I sheathed my broadsword, and was turning my head when out of the corner of my eye I saw a metallic glint.

I ducked instinctively, hearing a _whoosh_ as an arrow ripped through the air where my head had been previously. The well-aimed projectile lodged itself I the dirt, where it lay, quivering from its rudely interrupted momentum.

I looked back at the bandits. A ranger, bandits with advanced knowledge of using bows, was putting another arrow on his bow. Presumably he was the guy who had attempted to shoot me in the head, literally. He looked up as he finished notching his arrow on the bow, ready to be fired at any moment. "You bastards are gonna pay for killin' Rowlin, you got that? You're gonna-"

"We the point already, you horribly clothed, filthy idiots who can't even aim a damn sword" I cut in.

The whole gang howled in rage, and charged. Well, not all of them. I could see some sorceress's staying in the back, muttering incantations…

"Areoslicer!" I yelled, swinging out my so-recently sheathed broadsword and sending a burst of energy that sent the air around me into a brief frenzy before it sliced through 2 people, I couldn't see them in the general amount of chaos. Just that the beam cut though 2 people before it continued flying through the air…

I jammed my sword into the stomach of random rouge that had gotten too close for comfort, and then kicked his body off the blade, sending him crashing backwards, twitching in death throes. Just then…

"Air Blade!"

I whirled around. The outcry had been spoken by a voice that too femine to be Genis's, which meant…

I saw a beam of air blast towards me. I did the only thing I could do; I swung my hands upwards, and yelled "Ironside!"

A wall green mana burst around me, shimmering just as the Air Blade spell smashed into me. Defensive techniques could only protect, I knew, not completely negate the effect of spell, so I expected myself to be sent flying, relatively unscathed.

I wasn't disappointed. As the jet of air slammed into the shimmering defensive wall, I felt an almost physical blow to where the spell would have hit me first as I felt my feet leave the ground. I was sent spinning through the air in dizzying spirals, but I refused to close my eyes. Instead, I used my new found, temporary flight to my advantage by forcing my eyes open, even though I felt slight of waves of nausea wash over me.

_Let's see…_

An eruption spell. Obviously Genis was pouring hell on them. Zelos, doing a Light Spear, swing his sword so fast in the air upwards that the air itself was going in visible spirals. Colette, doing a random technique where lightning struck a random ranger who was now staggering, static visible on his clothes. Presea, blasting rocks up with a Deadly Destruction. Lloyd smashing a rouge to earth with insane force with a Heavy Tiger Blade. Raine, busy warding off a bunch of rouges trying to approach her with Photon spells. Sheena blasting a sorceress away with a Pyre Seal.

And me? Spinning aimlessly through the air, until I remembered to backflip in midair.

I landed on my feet, reduced to a squat from the force of the landing, my sword hand out in front of my to prevent a fall in case I did. I didn't. Obviously.

Standing up, I saw just how out motley opponents were being slaughtered. I suppose it didn't hurt to try my own brand of magic, since the others had basically forced them all away from me. No interruptions, so…

I crossed my arms. And hoped desperately that no ranger would notice me and try shooting and actually hit.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Genis yelled out his new spell "Raging mist!" and watched in satisfaction as the remaining bandits- 6 of them to be exact- ran around howling as mist scorched them, leaving them with a multitude of first degree burns or so.

Watching in satisfaction, Genis suddenly realized that a massive amount of mana was building up, right behind him.

Turning around, he couldn't believe his eyes. Kendal was there, his forearms crossed and his eyes open, but Genis swore that no matter if he waved a hand in front of his face, the teenager would never notice.

Genis could see purple mana begin to emanate purple light, signifying that he was about to use an electrical spell. But he couldn't see any runes, so it meant…

Genis stepped back in shock. Did this… teen, only a few years older than Genis, it seemed, have the capabilities to invent a new order of magic that didn't abide by the laws of runes?

As if to prove it, suddenly, Kendal dropped to the ground. Genis saw that the palms facing upward, and suddenly felt with a shiver half the massive amount of mana he had felt earlier travel beneath him. He whirled around, and saw the bandits had converged…

Directly beneath a circle of cracking rocks that was glowing ominously.

Lloyd, Zelos, Presea, and Sheena were about to rush forward at the remaining group of enemies when they saw the rocks begin to crack under the group they were about to attack, and so hung back.

In a breathless moment, as the bandits, understanding why everyone else was staring that something beneath them, looked down, a voice behind Genis yelled "STATIC-

A giant pillar of glowing, sparking rock blasted upward, but then Genis realized that it wasn't rock, it metal. As the rouges yelped and flailed wildly in the air, their weapons lisped out of their hands and smacked loudly into the column of magnetic metal. _Of course!_ Genis thought. _He's attracting lighting to-_

**VWVWVWVWV**

I had yelled the first part of my little custom spell just as the remaining members of the motley crew looked down. It was always good to have surprise on your side, so I started the spell when they were about to look down. I raise my arms with ferocity behind my back, where my arms stay there, and boom, there's a huge column of magnetic metal that smashes all the bandits sky high. And now…

I stretched my arms taunt behind my back, as clouds rolled in the spot where the metal column was at impossible speeds. Seriously. Finally, I saw that lighting was rumbling, flashing just as the bodies of my victims were beginning to succumb to the effects of gravity.

I smashed my arms downward back downward, taking my upper half of my body with it.

"-SPIKE!"

**VWVWVWVWV**

Genis could only watch openmouthed as huge bolts of lightning blasted down at the final word in the spell's name, and…

The bodies of the bandits were hung there, suspended in midair, as bolt after bolt slammed into them in quick succession so fast nobody could see one bolt transition into another. Whatever yells of agony the people up there, suspended in air, were lost through the deafening din that was the compacted storm of lightning. For 5 seconds, Genis saw huge amounts of mana pouring out of the skies.

When it was over, the bodies of the smoking bandits fell down, they were well and truly dead.

Genis could only slowly turn around, like others, to watch the only possible perpetrator of such a spell.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I lifted my head to discover everyone staring at me, with open mouths. It was a mixture of wonder, amazement, and…

Fear.

"Whaaaat???" I snapped at them.

They were so stunned by what I had just done that it took them a full 5 seconds for them to snap out of their trances.

* * *

Kendal: Yay! Another spell revealed! Finally...

Me: DUCT TAPE TIME! (raises roll of duct tape)

Kendal: WHAAAAT??? WHY? WHAT DID I DO???

Me: (rolls eyes) Spoilers, what else?

Kendal: WHAT WAS I REVEALING???

Me: That you have a lot more stuff in your arsenal.

Kendal: Of course I do! And that's not just spells, I've got Vortex Sli-

Me: NO SPOILERS!!! (tapes mouth)

Kendal: MMMMPH! MMMMRPH! (I HATE IT WHEN THIS HAPPENS!)


	22. Through the effin forest, part 1

Here's the 22nd chapter of d00m!

Kendal: Slang is always bad, so why did you useDocuments it?

Me: Because I can, sucka.

Kendal: WHAT DID YOU SAY???

Me: I said "sucka".

Kendal: (grabs the duct tape) Say that again, I dare you.

Me: Oh, so you're trying to do _that_, sucka?

Kendal: (raises duct tape)

Me: Gimme that. (snaps fingers)

Kendal: (looks, finds duct tape gone) Whaaat?! (sees roll in my hand, pales)

Me: (shrugs) Author powers, man.

Kendal: THIS IS _SO_ DAMN NOT FAIR!!! (tantrum, thrashing, general disturbances, ect.)

Zelos: Yay! My nemesis is breaking down in frustration! (dances)

Kendal: (gets up) Oh, Zelly…

Zelos: What?

Kendal: CHOKESLAM!

Zelos: NOOOOO!!!!

**Reviewer appreciation time! **

Liana Uchiha: Thankee for thy continued support, IM buddy. XD

Nage-te: Thanks for the praise. Words like that make me attempt to write harder, and better and- Well, you get the idea.

Spiritua Masquerade: Thanks for pointing out stuff that I was doing badly and for making tips that I've memorized till I was brain-dead. I don't know what would happen if I didn't have some constructive criticism. Thanks!

* * *

_I readied myself against the onslaught that was sure to come, sooner or later. Looking up at my mentor, I could see he had noticed that I was only holding my cleaver with a single hand. Cleavers were meant to be used with 2 hands, but I wasn't following tradition now, anyway, was I?_

"_You know you should grip that broadsword with 2 hands, or it will wear down your wrist, don't you?"_

"_Oh course I know that," I snapped," but I'm not going to bother at all with what's considered normal anymore. I'm not going to give a damn about it."_

_All the while, I was rotating my arm in its socket. Now, I stopped, slamming the edge into the brown earth. Turning my left side to face Kratos, I positioned the tip, whether it was blunt or not (I imagined it blunt) pointing to my teacher, who now had his… stick in front of him. He was using a wooden shield, durable to be sure, but not as dangerous as a metal one- I had only gotten a broken nose when he slammed the rim of the shield against my previously unbroken one when we were sparring._

_The medics in this dimension (I imagined better, more caring ones in Tethe'Alla and Sylvarant, places where I had learned and heard so much about) told me that if it had been a metal shield my nose would have been shattered beyond repair._

_Even if I was a Damasci._

_I readied myself, finishing tensing my entire body just as Kratos began the first charge, and…_

**VWVWVWVWV**

I opened my eyes.

I was looking at a purple sky, just an hour before dawn hit this part of Tethe'Alla.

I sat up slowly, trying to get back my sense of reality. I was dreaming, I knew that. Why now, though? I really didn't dream that often, and when I did, it was totally unrelated stuff to what was going on in the real world.

Then, I remembered. My past. This night, last night, it was my past that I had been dreaming about.

Which involved all those people I slaughtered/murdered, that had gotten me so many scars, mental and physical…

All of a sudden, filled with revulsion, I started unlatching my gauntlet with fury. I kept working on it, at times simply ripping at, till my left hand was aching. Finally, I got it off, and I saw what was a sort of punishment for what I did.

A huge scar that wasn't flesh. The skin was nothing more then flexible scabs here on this part of my body, a part of me that I knew would never heal. What I had done had scorched away half the skin, nerves, and muscle on my palm. Over the years, my muscles had gradually grown back, but my skin couldn't all my body could substitute for it was to make think, but flexible scabs over it. I still couldn't see very well in the daybreak's light, but I could see blood vessels pumping painfully through the transparent scars…

A second later, in a moment filled with self-revulsion, I ripped out a dagger from my belt, and jammed it through the scab.

I never expected anything to happen, not even pain. Because I couldn't feel anything in my palm anymore. I kept jamming it again and again senselessly until the blood burst though from a blood vessel which I saw penetrated. That's when I stopped. I might have hated myself, but attempting to commit suicide like that was just crazy. It was all I could to keep living, right?

I looked around. The others were still asleep- They hadn't heard anything. Or, maybe somebody saw, and…

I got up. Almost. Not before I healed myself. If they suddenly woke up and saw my exposed right hand, they'd know something was up, and they'd start inquiring about it. Forcefully. I didn't want to know why…

_You're just scared._

Duh.

_You're admitting it. For the first time._

Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Captain Obvious.

_Well, its fact, and you know it. A.K.A. it also means truth._

Oh look, you want to use one of my own philosophies against me.

_Duh. Didn't you once tell yourself that "The truth is absolute- You can never argue with it, you can only run away and deny it"?_

I did! But damn, it's for their own good, isn't it?

_For… their own good…?_

They'd never trust somebody who massacred 500 hundred people just because he went insane.

Just then, I heard a sleepy grunt, and spun around, my hand already going to my daggers.

Thankfully, it wasn't my bloody, mauled hand.

Quickly, I snapped my fingers, hoping desperately that I'd avoid having to show them that I was emotionally disturbed.

_  
Which you are._

I willed myself not to retort at myself, and watched as a glowing white spark floated from where I had snapped my left hand's fingers. Coming into contact with my mauled part, I watched impatiently and anxiously as waves of white light poured over my bloody hand. The blood became fainter and fainter with every time the healing light washed over, until finally, there was no trace that blood had ever spilled on my bare forearm.

I diverted my attention to my penetrated palm, and watched in satisfaction the artery that I had slashed in two completely and perfectly rejoin. There was now no trace that I had ever attempted to punish myself who who-wanted-to-know-what.

Not bad for a guy who's life purpose was supposed to be for killing.

I looked back. Lloyd was yawning, rubbing his eyes. Obviously there was no sign that he had ever seen the blood that had been dripping to the coarse grass. I quickly ripped up the grass in an attempt to hide every trace of violence.

Well, it was a nice attempt, save a tiny bit of stained red dirt. I sighed, and then waited for the wave of numbness that happened whenever I attempted my personal brand of magic.

After it came through my left hand like a ghost, I stood up, and looked around. The sun had officially peeked though the horizon, signifying the official start of morning.

I looked that the dark mass of the trees that was the Gaoracchia Forest. After a nice hearty meal, well, times to drop back into that dark, dank, and very dangerous earthly version of hell.

Back to the dark. And most likely, it wasn't going to be pretty.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"We're going back in the forest, aren't we?" Lloyd asked at breakfast. Kendal merely nodded.

"I hope we can get to mister Altessa's place soon," Colette said in a cheery voice.

Lloyd saw Kendal spit out the water he had been drinking and cough violently for 30 seconds, all while Raine came around to his back and slapped it heartily.

"Why are you so damn cheery when basically we're wanted for death, we have to go through a forest of death, and which happens to be infested with monsters who would just _love_ to be our invitation to death?" Kendal managed to choke out.

Genis counted a record usage of three times using the word death in one sentence.

To make a long story short, his words, half-choked out, didn't make a good impression.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I couldn't help but mumble half-uttered swearwords while we headed back into the Gaoracchia Forest (After fighting a mantis or two, plus some grasshoppers). Well, that's an understatement. I _had_ to.

I really couldn't understand why the Chosen of Sylvarant was so damn cheery. Was she wrong in her head or something? Because, I would love to see her be, well, normal when she spoke. Not with happiness that basically nobody else could feel.

We changed the function of the Sorcerer's Ring again- It seemed that somehow whenever we left an area, it looked like the Sorcerer's Ring's changed ability wore off, reverting to its usual function of spitting fire. Apparently, Colette explained, since this weird ring was supposedly holy, and she was the Chosen, anyway, the ring only did functions that were meant for a certain area.

In this case, in the darkness of the Gaoracchia Forest, the ring functioned as a lamp.

The path from which we had first entered the forest was surprisingly unobstructed with anything, save the few tree roots that unexplainably stuck out stubbornly from trees. It was impossible to not trip in the Gaoracchia Forest unless you could hover, and as I watched in envy, Colette's wings fluttered out, holding her body in gravitational limbo as she floated slowly, enough so that she could keep in pace with us.

Damn angel wings.

So, here we were, stumbling over roots (At least this time, I remembered to keep my head down, literally) and her comes, what-do-you-know, a monsters. A group of one, anyway.

I heard a low moaning, and looked up, seeing a clustered gang of a few zombies and a phantom. I drew my cleaver the same time Colette called out "Don't worry!" and threw one of her chakrams.

Ah-ha. Angel sight meant that she could see clearly everything around her for a mile, at most. I knew that my musing was stupid, though, in a time like this, so I yelled "Aeroslicer!" and completely slashed off the head of one particularly ghastly ghoul.

The rest joined in a second later.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Burn! Eruption!" Genis cried, as a torrent of magma blasted out of previously cool, very burn-resistant soil. That all changed as magma blasted out in bursts, slamming ghouls and ghost alike, burning them off with every second they were in the scalding liquid….

The spell ended, and the victims fell to earth in a heap, if you counted the ghost. It fell for most of the way, before it managed to levitate to stop the fall completely.

Else where, Sheena was yelling "Power Seal Absolute!" The card struck her opponent, a ghoul who had fallen to earth when Genis had previously used Stone Blast and sent the member of the undead flying amid a pillar of rock fragments. Stumbling from a sudden pang of weakness, the ghoul floundered for a few seconds, enough to blow apart he ghoul, separating limb from limb.

Zelos, meanwhile, was slicing his opponent, the lone ghost which he had attacked just after it was sent to the sky from Genis's Eruption spell with a Light Spear. Easily acing all of the hits with the technique, he yelled "Hell Pyre!" sending his opponent up high and blasting him down with a very concentrated fireball. It slammed the ghoul, scorching away at its chest before exploding, sending the creature reeling.

Lloyd was having trouble- His opponent was a boxing iris, the same type of monster Kendal had killed only a minute after going deeper into the forest. The plant on legs was mercilessly pounding poor Lloyd to pieces, giving him bruise upon bruise with hardened fists, or were they fists at all?

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Damnation!" I yelled as I finally finished off the ghoul. To beat a ghoul, it seemed you needed to slash of its head, _and_ give its chest a good thrust/hack before you could really kill these damn things. Considering that these were just reanimated bodies, I suspected the best way to do it was to shred the damn things to pieces, then burn.

Or, considering Sheena had just blown one away, blow them to pieces.

I scratched my head. Something I hadn't thought about. Or, burn. Genius boy's eruption spell had practically scorched them all to hell and back again, hadn't it? The ones who had survived were basically nothing more than a burnt humanoid shape covered with smoking skin.

I grunt of pain caught my attention. Whirling around, I saw Lloyd being absolutely pummeled by a boxer iris I hadn't noticed when we had first encountered the (mostly) undead gang.

I groaned. Rule of fighting #120 or something: Never attempt to attack a boxer iris head on. Otherwise, they'd beat you down to hell, or maybe they would get sadistic and make it hell for you on earth.

Well, that's possible the way it was looking for Lloyd now, I immediately yelled-

"Drop dragon!"

The iris turned around in confusion, giving Lloyd a chance to scamper away from it. That's when the green one-eyed… thing saw me, flying through the air, broadsword behind my back-

I smashed the blade downward, and suddenly blasted out a burst of dark blue energy that was just like the Beast that Lloyd and Presea could make, but the shape I had was a dragon's head. The recoil, taking place in the air, blasted me further upwards, before I landed on the forest floor.

The boxing iris was blasted away sprawling, even rolling a few times on the ground before it came to a complete stop. Taking the opportunity, I jumped on it and yelled "Dual Dominating Blade!" smashing two shockwaves one after the other, moving forward as I did so.

Needless to say, that was complete overkill.

"How'd you do that?" I heard a voice mumble. I turned around, and saw Lloyd sitting up and applying an apple gel to the bruises on his face.

"I've got no idea," I replied, merely shrugging. Then, I asked, "Don't you need some healing? Because that iris hit more than just your face, from what I saw."

Luckily, Raine finally hurried over. "Lloyd!" she scolded. "You should be thankful of Kendal. From what I heard and saw, you must've broken at least a few ribs!"

I raised an eyebrow. She was indirectly complementing me? What a shock.

"First Aid," Raine said, a bright white light flooding Lloyd. The slightly pained expression on Lloyd's face turned into delight. "Thanks, professor!" He yelled gleefully before hopping up and assaulting a ghoul who was stumbling towards Genis.

Raine sighed. "Always unappreciating the efforts of others, but a devoted friend, at least," she mumbled, before rising and hurrying over to Presea, who had taken a wound to her side without any visible effect on her fighting, where she was simply chopping apart a ghoul, piece by piece.

I looked around, all while thinking _Raine's right. Our dear unofficial leader just takes a lot of things for granted, including the efforts of some people who save his life, even._

Seeing the Lloyd was significantly better at killing ghouls than boxer irises, I leaned against the tree as the rest of us mopped up the straggling remainders of the monster gang (literally).

_**Later**_

"Ugh," I grumbled, jamming my broadsword into one of the heads of a pumpkin tree. Not taking lightly the fact that I was only a few efforts away from sending the... thing to its doom, it immediately slammed its other head against me, sending me stumbling backwards, hopping over a tree root that I had only avoided tripping on if I hadn't seen it only a few seconds before.

Immediately, the pumpkin tree began blasting out a spray of seeds. Since we were now in the middle of the forest, we now had to deal with narrower pathways, like this one- There was no way to dodge it, except…

I quickly began twirling my broadsword with both hands- As the high velocity-launched spray of seeds slammed into the shimmering wall of air that was really my broadsword, my hands rattled from the impact, but I didn't dare let go. Not a single seed pass through my makeshift barrier, and as the pumpkin tree stopped spitting out its projectiles in puzzlement of just why I wasn't stumbling back and such (I think) I took my chance and yelled

"Utter damnation!"

A HUGE burst of adrenaline erupted from somewhere, I have no clue. I didn't matter. I was suddenly hacking like my life depended like it, and finally finished with a horizontal slice that hacked off the… trunk of the thing. The other head had already been sliced off by one of the initial slashes, anyway.

I peered off into the darkness that was now unobstructed by the presence of the pumpkin tree. Nothing else there. I looked back. Damn the others, they had forced me guard duty for their temporary camp, while they cooked.

"When the hell is whatever you're cooking is going to be ready?" Yelled. Genis boy looked up, with an irritated expression.

"It's not a 'whatever,' it's called an omelet," he called, irritated. "Besides, I just realized you speak _really_ crudely, anyway, so I'm not listening."

"Okay, fine!" I yelled back. "I'll just _make_ you listen to me!" He didn't reply.

Annoyance time. My style.

I called "Oh, genie…" Genis didn't respond.

I kept calling at him for a minute and finally, he yelled back with a torrential amount of irritation "WHAT?"

"Nothing!"

I didn't try it again, because I could see a muscle in his neck twitch. When something on a person's body twitches involuntarily, that's not good, is it?

Thankfully, Genis wasn't evil enough to burn my lunch.

I looked at the patch of sunlight that was nearby. Monster seemed to avoid spots like these which I knew were scattered all over the forest. Somehow, these were always there- The forest canopy never seemed to bother with covering up these patches of sunlight.

These also happened to be the places to recharge the Sorcerer's Ring- The light that emanated from the ring kept getting weaker and weaker as you kept using it, and it seemed that in a sun-filled spot like here inside the forest was a perfect candidate for recharging our portable light source, right?

I put down my plate (Which I had no idea where it was stored) and looked around.

That's when I was startled. I noticed a necklace that was snagged on a tree (**A/N: **Yes, peeps, this is the drain charm that you find behind a plant in the forest), which was well hidden from sight if I hadn't been sitting right next to it. Gingerly, I got up, and plucked the snagged charm from its former nest on the branches.

After examining it a bit, I decided to ignore it and instead threw it to Lloyd, who was already done (He had one of the biggest appetites that I had ever seen) who caught it in surprise. "What's this?" he asked, looking down on it.

"Drain charm," I replied. "It's supposed to prevent you from becoming weakened when you get infected by venom and such."

Lloyd's face brightened at the last part. "Does that mean that this thing counters poison!?"

I cradled my head in my hands. "Damn you," I mumbled, "You repel that with a poison charm."

Why did our unofficial leader have to be such a dumbass

* * *

Lloyd: TT 

Me: What?

Lloyd: You sick SOB...

Kendal: Hey, that's my line!

Lloyd: (sees Kendal, starts sobbing) I HATE YOOOOOOOOUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!

Me/Kendal: O.o

Colette: Don't cry! (attempts to pass a glass of water and falls)

Glass of water: (flies through the air and splatters Lloyd)

Lloyd: BOO-HOO!

Me/Kendal: (sweatdrop)

Me: Lemme guess, you hate me because I called you a dumbass?

Lloyd: DUH! (breaks down)

Kendal: I didn't do it! (backs away) He made me! (points at me)


	23. Through the effin' forest, part 2

Ugh. I'm about to go to school in a few days… TT

Kendal: WHAAAAT!?!?!?

Me: Gonna miss me? (sobs)

Kendal: I wouldn't even bother. And besides, you can't neglect your education for more than three months.

Me: WHAT DID YOU SAY?

Kendal: Meep!

Me: (mauls)

* * *

I plucked a rod- A phoenix rod by the looks of it, one of the rarest of staves that could be found in any world- From its prison inside a net of vines, which I had opened so recently with the Sorcerer's Ring. 

"Hey, Raine," I called. She perked up. We were stopping here in this particular clearing to rest from some more monster encounters. I came through them all unscratched, though slightly exhausted (slightly meaning as if I couldn't feel any weakness, I just knew that I was from all the techniques I had pulled off), unlike the others, who were almost totally exhausted and rather bruised up. Raine was tending to each of them, considering that the monsters in the forest had a notorious reputation for killing people indirectly.

A.K.A., poison.

I tossed her the newly found rod, which she caught in surprise. "What's this?" she asked questionable. Then…

Somehow, she began to rant. "Look at the smoothness and how the wings that decorate this rod flap!" she exclaimed greedily. I could only stare at her confused.

The others looked up with horror. I gave them a 'What-the-hell-is-wrong-with-her' look, which, Raine, somehow looking in my direction, caught.

"I saw that!" she snapped, then she proceeded to rant of things like "Look at how this gives its user magical strength!" and "Look at how finely finished the look is!" until…

I clapped my hand over my ears and roared "SHUT UP!"

The forest once again filled with silence from yet another of my bellows.

"Are you going to use it or just study and talk us to death?" I growled through gritted teeth. Damn, this group bugged me. Giving me a sour look, Raine walked over to Lloyd, the farthest person away from me, and began doing… Doing whatever healers did.

The others gave me looks that bordered on sheer amazement. If they weren't civilized people I would have expected them to start worshipping me. Bowing down to me and all. Ugh.

When we could finally get moving again (I had checked the sun's position from one of the "sun holes" and found it was already about three o'clock) while I impatiently tapped my foot, shooting them disgusted looks for them being so slow.

I actually had reason to shoot them those looks- I counted the seconds, and from my calculations (3000 seconds) they had wasted 30 minutes tending to alleged poison. Which unfortunately turned out to be a false alarm.

Damn the whole concept of luck.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Wanna charge? Thunder Blade!" Genis shouted, as a huge electrical sword of electricity slammed into the earth, sending a massive shock to a pumpkin tree, which was then assaulted with 3 rapid pulses of lighting that spread across the ground, shocking all monsters in its circular wake.

Ideally, the pumpkin tree and a random boxer iris. After Lloyd's little brush-up with one, the others had stayed far, far away from monsters like these, instead preferring to let the magic users like Raine, Zelos (who also used a sword, anyway), and Genis himself.

Unless you counted the wild, uncouth (Genis heard Raine mutter this), and semi-insane (In Zelos's opinion) Kendal; immediately after the boxer iris was hit by the triple pulse of electricity, he jumped in with a flurry of thrusts followed by a "Damnation!" and then a final "Wolf fang!"

The resulting combination of attacks left the iris twitching in a pitiful manner, soon to die anyway, since Kendal had finished his barrage of moves with a 'Wolf fang' as he called it, straight in the eye of the one-eyed biological mystery.

Apparently, the weak point. Or was it an obvious one?

Shaking off the meaningless questions, Genis began casting something else, this time an ice-type spell. "Cool off! Freeze lancer!" he called out as a magical portal appeared and spat out icicles the pierced the nearest enemy, in this case a ghost, to the point where the ghost simply vanished. Genis took this as a sign that it was defeated. Well, he always had, but…

**VWVWVWVWV**

For the second time that day, I was muttering "Ugh" for the exact same reason. The fact that I hated that this forest was the only true way to go to Ozette, where apparently where Presea lived and near Altessa's house, and (I knew exactly where) Mizuho.

I quickly raised my broadsword again to block the punches of a boxer iris that just wouldn't leave me alone. My arms were beginning to ache from being force to block the punches that the iris threw relentlessly. Finally, it broke its rapid-fire rhythm of punches the slightest bit, and-

I let loose completely. "Damnation!" I roared. This was real fury this time, frustration from the fact that this thing wouldn't stop hitting me, which, coupled with the extra adrenaline boost, it doomed the iris to hell and back again, if it was possible.

Well, it got sent to hell in shreds, so what would happen if it came back from hell in shreds?

I sighed, and then looked around. Another sunspot. I was sure we were in nearing the other side of the forest, since our departure into this hellhole. Stepping to it, and squinting from my sudden exposure to the sunlight, I checked the position of the sun. Yup. It was definitely going to be sunset in an hour.

We had to go _now_.

_**At the outskirts of the Gaoracchia Forest**_

We were nearing the end of the forest, only a little bit from the tunnel of light that signified the exit of the forest- Literally. From this far away, they forest's exit looked like the tunnel of light that people who had near-death experiences claimed to see.

I felt it was safe to talk to Raine again, so I asked (in a somewhat timid manner) "Why were you obsessed with the phoenix rod that I threw you earlier?"

Before she could lift her head, Lloyd answered the question. "She got into ruin-mode again when she saw that-"

_Smack._

I winced. Lloyd was lying on the ground dazed, from a blow I knew would most likely send me reeling. The others only chuckled, but it was a nervous one. Genis, apparently always looking to embarrass Lloyd, said a sarcastic "You really don't know when to shut up, do you, Lloyd…"

Pretty much.

My question forgotten, I was desperately hoping to keep it that way. Or else I'd see the group's occupational teacher rant over and over about what I had only thrown to her as an act of innocence.

We kept walking towards that, er, tunnel of light, until I saw the sign (**A/N: **Yep, this is something of my own creation. How else would the gang know that that was the way to go in the game, anyway?) that was the dead giveaway that we were on the right track to getting out of this dementedly hellish place.

That's when I heard Lloyd say "Colette, what's wrong?"

I turned around just in time to see Colette stiffen. "I hear something… footsteps… far away..." Her voice trailed off.

Zelos said in surprise "I don't hear anything."

From what I knew of angels, they were pretty much normal people with no soul and insane senses/strength. Enough to rival even a damasci. Which I happened to be.

I was a special one, though, so did that assesment count?

Meanwhile, Raine said "Colette still has her angel senses."

"There's definitely the sound of footsteps. And…" She paused and then continued. "..the sound of clinking armor. There are lots of them. And they're coming…" she pointed to the tunnel of light we were about to head towards and said ominously "…from over there."

"That can't be good" said Lloyd worriedly. "Altessa lives in that direction."

"I'll send Corrine out to scout," Sheena piped up, and whispered a few words before her little personal summon spirit appeared with a _poof_.

With a nod from Sheena, Corrine raced away.

That's when I heard a creaking, and a rustle of leaves...

I looked up, and saw blue-haired man drop right in front of us.

"That's the guy from the Meltokio sewer!" Genis yelped, his hand already going to his kendama.

"Man, it's just one thing after another with the pope!" Zelos whined. "Am I really this much of a problem to him?"

_Pretty much, yeah, my dear flirtatious cross dresser, _I said sarcastically to myself. In the mean time, The convict spoke. "I do not with to fight you. I only want to speak with that girl."

"With Presea?" Lloyd said.

"You've got to be kidding!" Genis growled. Obviously, he was this devoted to an insensitive girl. "Or did you forget you tried to kill us?"

"I cannot speak for any others. I, at least, never intended to take your lives," the convict said smoothly, without missing a beat "My orders were to retrieve a girl named Colette."

"Me?" Colette asked after a pause. I winced. She had just given herself away. But if this guy was speaking the truth…

"I will do you no harm," the convict said. "Presea… that is your name, correct? Please let me speak with her-"

That's when he caught sight of her exsphere.

"An exsphere!?" he exclaimed. For the first time since had seen him, I could hear traces of anger in his voice. "You're yet another victim!?"

He made a move to swipe it, but Presea smacked his arm away and backed up a few steps. "Presea's in danger!" Genis bawled, his kendama already out.

Egged on by the shouts of his best friend (From what I'd listened in to, anyway) Lloyd drew both of his swords. "I don't know what the heck is going on, but we have to stop this guy!" he shouted.

Immediately, the convict jumped back, his muscles already tensing. "If we have no choice, then we must fight!" he growled, and immediately rushed towards us.

I was there, of course. I quickly blocked his initial kick that was horizontal, which he followed up with a yell of "Spin Kick!" I quickly shifted my blade's position so that it was pointing vertical and was pretty much jammed in the ground- The sweeping foot of mister convicted smacked into my blade with a dull thump. Jumping back to give myself room to maneuver, I yelled "Dominating Blade!" and sent the familiar shockwave straight at the convict. Send skidding with a grunt, he straightened himself, and charged, again.

"Heavy Tiger Blade!" Lloyd yelled, catching him off guard with an upward slash and slamming him down with a _really_ powerful one.

The bluenette immediately hopped to his feet, just in time for Colette to call out "Angel feathers!" which forced him to again back away as chakrams that consisted of light magic flew through the air, and slammed where he had been only seconds before with a shower of prism-like feathers.

"Aeroslicer!" I yelled, striking the convict when he was most vulnerable, just when he was backstepping. He was sent spinning though the air when he tried to pull his greaves to block my projectile of doom, which hissed as it dissipated after it struck his leg guards.

Well, it didn't exactly slice though everything, did it? Then I saw the light green shield around him. A.K.A. he cheated.

Landing on his feet, he just stood there. I could see that he knew the rules now. Rush us, and he was going to be in for the time of his life. So, now he was baiting us to rush at _him_ instead of the other way around.

Unfortunately, Lloyd took the bait. He charged it him, with a yell of "Rising falcon!" I couldn't help but think that it was intelligently taking the bait, because he was rushing forward and attacking at the same time. Total invulnerability.

Well, that only lasted while Lloyd was rushing forward. The convict blocked the slash, but at the last moment Lloyd swerved around him to end up behind his back. Intelligent.

It didn't make a difference. Without missing a beat the convict lashed out backwards without even looking, catching the swordsman's chin in a sharp heel kick. Staggering backwards and spitting out blood, he didn't notice as the bluenette that he was attacking only a few seconds before pivoted and then slashed upwards.

"Crescent Moon!" The convict shouted. The sharpness of the upwards kick slashed a visible, bright rip in the air, which also traced the path of the foot of the guy as he backflipped- He had simply done a powerful somersault. Very. As soon as he had finished the flip in midair, Genis yelled "Fireball!"

The three fiery projectiles raced towards the convict's back, as he finally stopped accenting, along with Lloyd, his opponent. It was useless. "Eagle dive!" The shackled fighter called out, plummeting towards the soft earth of the Gaoracchia Forest with speed that created shockwaves that struck Lloyd and brought him down with his opponent. He landed flat on his back with an audible thud that made me wince. Then, I saw Lloyd's head pointing at the front of the convict, and…

I was struck with a sudden panic. In my book, if you're ever down and your head is pointed at the guy who knocked you out, you are so screwed. Painfully, anyway. Reacting instinctively, I rushed forward, while yelling "Areoslicer!" and sending out the veeeeery sharp beam of mana as a vanguard for my charge.

My textbook on fighting was right- Lloyd _was_ screwed. Hearing me yelling out, the bluenette turned, and then neatly tilted his body sideways to avoid the diagonally-tilted Aeroslicer, all the while calling out "Spin kick!"

I winced as the whirling greave of the convict struck the head of Lloyd solidly in his left temple. Concussion was imminent, and it would be a miracle if it didn't break the neck.

That's when I reached the convict. I quickly hacked downwards, from an already upraised blade, where he jumped back. When he jumped back over Lloyd's unmoving and unresponsive body (I hoped unbreathing wouldn't be added to the list of "uns" that I was using), I quickly bellowed "DROP DRAGON!" and sent him rolling over his head all the way to halfway near the Ozette entrance to the forest.

Getting up, he jumped and snagged a huge branch that was placed there conveniently. Hooking it with his legs, he whirled around it before doing a sort of midair hop and landing on the branch, where he looked down on us.

"Come get some! Air Thrust!"

Obviously enraged from missing with his fireballs and with his best friend out for the count, Genis had been showing remarkable self-control and had delayed releasing the wind mana that he had charged up for the spell. As I watched, the convict was forced to leap of the branch, as the Air Thrust spell slashed the branch to perfectly proportioned bits… I think. Anyway, when the convict leaped off, Raine yelled "Photon!"

Blinding light that scorched my unadapted retinas from being stuck in this horrible forest so long slammed into the guy. As he hung there, suspended, Genis shouted "Pancake time! Stalagmite!" just as the light that held the convict in the air imploded, sending him down where a rising column of rock sot him back up. Falling down again, he was buffeted in the air _again_ when Zelos yelled "Light spear!" and floated him upwards. Just as the convict, disoriented as he was, attempted to stand up from where he fell, he was struck with a card from Sheena. I almost treated it as joke, since I had never seen her personally do a technique.

But when she yelled "Pyre seal!" it wasn't a joke anymore, in anybody's mind. The resulting explosion of the almost-impossible multiplying cards sent the convict blasting backwards into a tree, where he stumbled, bruised, dazed, and bloodied.

Presea, having waited out most of the battle unresponsively, simply said "Deadly destruction," and blasted out rocks. Hard ones, not any of the soft junk that littered the forest's floor. Buffetting her opponent upwards, Presea then sliced upwards, slashing open a gash on the convict's arm along with numerous bruises from the rocks.

Finally, Colette shouted "Grand chariot!" and threw two of her Air Thrust chakrams in a cross. They crossed, slicing his side, before _bang. _A bolt of lightning slammed into the spot where the chakrams had crossed, A.K.A. where Colette had sliced the convict, and wham the convict is on his knees, most of the fight out of him. Plus, his clothes were crackling with static, anyway.

I blinked. For the second time in a day, a first, I had been presented with a burst of light that I had been forced to blink at least ten times before I could see clearly again. Then I remembered where I was, and grinned. Time to finish this.

I jumped forward and roared "Wolf fang pulse!"

I jabbed my cleaver dagger-style at my side again, but this time I didn't blast the guy away from me. Instead, I built up mana for a second, while the convict was stunned from my initial thrust, and…

I was blown back skidding as I mentally gave the mana in my hands a shove. The mana, finding nowhere to go, transferred over the tip of my blade and there exploded in another burst of bright light, sending the guy blasting backwards, even lifting into the air before he came back down with a thud.

He was, officially, just like Lloyd, knocked out.

After a short pause, where Raine murmured "Nurse" and healed everybody, she walked over to him, turned him over, and listened for a heartbeat. At once, everybody including me stiffened. Was the now-unconscious convict now considered a murderer?

Finally, Raine raised her head, with relief showing on her face. It instantly beamed out the message- He was alive, with nothing but a bloody lip and a bruised skull. Well, that was my assessment, so…

She unnecessarily said "He's alright," when everybody had already let out a sigh of relief.

That's when Sheena's little fox went ahead and ruined the happy little moment. "Sheena!" Corrine squeaked. "There were a lot of soldiers, and they're all coming this way! Run away, quickly!"

"Looks Colette was right," Sheena mused.

"The footsteps… keep getting louder" Colette said in a panicked voice.

I thought about it. It was now official that forests were going to enter the forest. And, if there were a lot of them, we were so screwed. I guess I possible could have taken the all out, but I wouldn't have time to use one of my little "original" spells, would I? So, that meant we'd have to have another way to get out of here, and the only place I knew of…

"Mizuho," I breathed. Sheena said that same word at the exact same moment, but I had said it so quietly that nobody noticed me.

Meanwhile, Zelos was, well, freaking out. "Whoa there, Sheena. Isn't Mizuho closed to outsiders?"

"But we'll be trapped from both sides if we don't do something. There's

nothing we can do but take shelter in the village," Sheena shot back.

"Okay," Lloyd said. That earned a jump from everyone, hadn't he been only knocked out only moments ago? "Show us the way, Sheena."

Quickly recovering from her surprise, Sheena turned to Zelos. "Hey, Zelos, carry the big guy for us."

Zelos, grumbling under his breath, walked over to where the body of the convict was, and attempted to pick him up. Apparently, he slacked off, because in a few seconds he began doing his usual thing- Knocking off responsibility. "Me!?" he babbled. "You want me to carry this… this…" he fumbled for the correct word for a few seconds "…this ogre by myself? Are you kidding!?"

Ohhh. Direct insult there to the convicted one. I made sure to put telling what Zelos had called him on my mental "To-do-as-soon-as-possible-list." Man, Zelos was in for it.

"Here, I'll help too," Colette chirped cheerily as she walked over to where Zelos was kneeling down. "Zelos will have a hard time by himself."

I could practically see Zelos make hearts with his eyes. I groaned to myself. _Don't egg him on, you idiot goldette, _I mentally begged. Too late. "Aww, you're so nice, Colette!" Zelos exclaimed. "We Chosens have to look out for each other, right?"

With an enthusiastic "Yeah!" Colette walked over, and lifted the convict by his stomach with one hand. One. Hand.

Of all the males in the group, it looked like I wasn't the only one who was surprised. Nothing expected more of an angel than _that._

"Oh," Colette said, in her still-disgustingly cheery voice, "he's lighter than I thought. I can carry him by myself."

Zelos chuckled nervously. "I see…"

"Men are so useless these days," Raine quipped, with a mock sigh. I couldn't resist raise an eyebrow, though. "Did you happen to mean me?" I asked. She scowled at me before saying a grudgingly-sounded "No."

"C'mon, let's go!" Sheena called out from down yet another path in the forest. The path to Mizuho. With one last smirk at Raine, I began walking towards another thicket of trees. Hopefully, we wouldn't encounter any undertakers here. I hated them. Badly.

* * *

Kendal: Yay, finally, another huge fight scene! 

Me: And yes, it was pretty much a full-party unison attacjk. It didn't result in anything extra, though.

Kendal: Unfortunately, this SOB forgot most of his unison attacks-

Me: WHO'RE CALLING AN SOB!

Kendal: Uh, Noishe! Yeah!

Me: (sweatdrop) Noishe... yeah... right...


	24. Another alliance, another few friends

Chappie number 24 is here. Officially.

Kendal: Does that make a difference?

Me: Aw, shut up, can't you see I'm trying to announce this one formally?

Kendal: Does the world really need formalness?

Me: (rolls eyes) Duh. Oh, and I don't think I'll ever get a sugar rush…

Kendal: What?

Me: Every other author keeps ranting about it, so they must drink (gasp) COFFEE!

Lloyd: Does that make a difference?

Me: Duh. Ever heard of caffeine?

Lloyd: Uh... well… what the heck is it?

Genis: Lloyd, you are such a-

Me: IDIOT! YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT! (bashes head against wall)

Kendal: …He's slightly suicidal, so… yeah.

Everyone: O.o;;

And, no, I don't own Namco or Tales of Symphonia. Otherwise I'd do lots of twisted things to the game.

Note that in this chapter I'm writing as if there was a deeper part to go before the group could go to Mizuho. Well, duh, if that _wasn't_ the case, then Mizuho wouldn't be so hidden in the game, eh?

* * *

Note that in this chapter I'm writing as if there was a deeper part to go before the group could go to Mizuho. Well, duh, if that _wasn't_ the case, then Mizuho wouldn't be so hidden in the game, eh? 

The whole group wandered deeper (It looked like it) into the forest, being forced to burn their way through more foliage that blocked paths with the now un-converted Sorcerer's Ring, which we had switched with the help of another altar.

Groaning at the slow pace that Lloyd was shooting the ring at a particularly thick wall of foliage, I ripped it off his fingers with ferocity that caused Lloyd to howl and fall on his (I suspected) butt while I fired the ring at a speed that made the fireballs that shot from the ring almost look like a stream of them. _Finally_ after being forced to endure Lloyd's tantrum for a horribly long 30 seconds, the damned stubborn wall of plants that simply wouldn't move, well, moved. Thankfully.

I turned to Lloyd about to spew a stream of very rude words from sheer irritation from his tantrum while I was speeding up the "foliage removal" so to speak, but he wasn't there. He was literally skipping off…

Until, of course, when I and the others followed, he was attempting to hack away at yet another wall of foliage. With swords. Like they'd ever budge because an indignant guy in red was hacking at the wall of inconveniently placed plants.

I groaned loudly. Hearing me, and red in the face, Lloyd snapped "You do it!"

"I will," I shot back and raised my left hand. Snap-bombing time.

"Get back," I told everyone. They only stared at me in confusion, which meant that they'd never understand what I'd do if they'd see it first. Sure, snapped my fingers earlier and making the ground under those Papal Knights explode, but did they ever suspect the source? Besides, I was on the ground then, so nobody would see me.

I looked around as I diverted part of my mind to focus the mana on the center part of the wall- Just like doing the second part of Pulse Wolf Fang, except this time I wasn't touching the object that I, er, wanted to blow up. I saw Genis and Raine immediately back away. To be expected, since they were half-elves and they could sense mana, and therefore feel a kind of warning about what would happen next.

Finally, after a few seconds, when I felt that there was enough mana focused in the air around the barrier (since the barrier was living, I couldn't make itself blow up, since it was impossible to force extra mana into something living through sheer willpower, like how I did it), I snapped my fingers.

_SNAP._

_BOOM._

I was the only one who remained standing. Well, at least on my feet, because I had dropped to the ground at the last moment into a squat. The others were complete knocked over their head, unless you counted the 2 half-elves, who were already far away from the now non-existent wall of absolutely evil plants. Well, it did exist, but in a charred and burned form.

I rose up again. I knew the odds of the Papal Knights hearing were pretty large, but I couldn't just carry everyone over to Mizuho (as I knew the path) so I simply leaned against a tree (After making sure it wasn't a pumpkin one) and waited. Finally, they all rose up, shooting dirty looks at me, which I returned in favor. I _had_ given them a warning hadn't I? Maybe not a detailed one, but…

Did I really have to go into detail when there was a simple "Get away" to be said?

**VWVWVWVWV**

Genis hung back as Kendal strode through the still-smoldering wreckage of the plant wall, followed by the others. It was pretty much given that these wouldn't regrow anytime soon, from what he inspected of the charred plants.

In truth, Genis was slightly scared of the newest member of the group now. Easily destroying a wall of plants that took minutes to burn down or wither from light, able to make things explode with a snap of his fingers- Just _what_ was that guy? Really? He had to be an elf or half-elf, if he could do those spells and manipulate mana. Besides, Genis would have sensed the mana that identified half-elves. Or elves. There wasn't any outward mana that radiated from all times, like Raine and himself did- The thing was, mana only seeped out of him when he was doing what he did best- fighting.

Then again, Zelos could use magic, so what was the point of musing? And Kratos, the traitor, as well- They both could, and so could Kendal. Maybe they had traces of elven blood in their blood. Maybe.

**VWVWVWVWV**

After finishing off the last few monsters en route to Mizuho (after I was trapped and slammed around inside an Undertaker's coffin) we finally emerged from the gloom of the Gaoracchia Forest after I snap-bombed yet _another_ wall of damned plants…

And found ourselves out into daylight.

The contrast between what we had been through for the past eight hours and what was just behind the thick, dark wall was so amazing that I fell flat on my face. Thankfully, the ground was soft there, so I could avoid the sheer insanity that a very painful nose could bring, as exemplified when it came to that… incident in Zelos's mansion.

Ow.

Seriously.

Of course, Zelos, hating me and all, wouldn't miss this big of a chance to embarrass me in front of anyone and everyone in the group, so he began hucking in slightly mocking laughter.

"I'd like to see you try it" I snapped at him as I dusted myself off.

"I will," Zelos said defiantly. Then, he realized what he had just said.

The group looked at Zelos expectantly (except for the unconscious convict on Colette's shoulder) as everyone hid gleeful looks. Except Genis, he was pretty much on the verge of dancing.

"Hey, hey!" Zelos whined. "I might break my-"

"Beautiful nose." I rolled my eyes at his pathetic attempt to worm his way out of his accepted dare. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've heard that before. Now, shut up and fall on your face, or I'll make you."

Zelos's pupils dilated with sheer terror. "But… but…" he protested weakly. It didn't make a difference.

In one quick motion, I flitted over to Zelos, and lifted him straight off his feet.

"You… you… you can't hurt the gorgeous Chosen Zelos!" Zelos bawled. The others simply hung back, with amused expressions on their faces while I slung Zelos across my shoulders, his face perilously close to tipping off my shoulders. It didn't help that the hilt of my sword was jabbing into his back.

I decided to bluff him. It would be a good chance to see a surprised face on him- I hadn't seen one of his surprised faces, ever. Given the nature of his "beautiful" face, I suspected that something would be broken for the sake of comedy, and the owner, well…

"Okay, I won't drop you," I said to Zelos. From the corner of my eye, I could see relief pouring from every corner of his face.

"Let me down, then!" Zelos demanded, and started wiggling around.

"Crunch time," I said under my breath, and heaved Zelos off me.

For a single moment, I saw Zelos contort his mouth into a perfect comical O. Amazingly, the face held for as long as I saw it- As in saying a few seconds.

_Crunch._

Well, the "crunch time" thing was real, alright. Apparently, Zelos wasn't lucky enough to land his face in a soft patch of dirt, or even a tuft of grass- To be truthful, I hadn't looked where I threw him.

Colette, as forgiving as always, whined "Oh no!" and rushed over to Zelos's downed body, dragging the convict and all. Otherwise, nobody made a move to help Tethe'Alla's Chosen of Mana, who, when Colette turned him over, was shown to have his beautiful nose broken.

Beautiful. Yeah. Right.

As Genis giggled manically, I hung back and watched as Colette (In a dramatic fashion) fell on Zelos while crouching over on him, driving both of her knees into his gut.

Wow. His "little angel" just went ahead and caused him a massive amount of pain, judging from Zelos's scream of pain when he woke up.

Thrashing around violently, he was screaming "Noooough! 'On't hurt meeee!" in a slurred manner, thanks to his broken nose, which was leaking blood at a maniac's pace.

"First aid," Raine said off-handedly. I could see that, given Raine's annoyance with Zelos, she only treated him battle-style, and didn't give him a, well, examination to make sure he was okay. Because most likely he already was, taken for granted that she could heal the majority of everybody's bruises and cuts with a single Nurse spell.

We all Colette spew apologies like there was only one day that remained in the universe, while a bemused Zelos attempted to shake her off. And unsucceeding, really. "No, really, my little angel, it's alright!" Zelos said, as he tried to get Colette gripping his arm. Given her angel strength, I wouldn't have been surprised if she broke it by sheer accident.

Finally, Lloyd, always to caring one, stepped in and tugged at Colette's arms to let Zelos go. Colette, always devoted to Lloyd, released Zelos immediately, leaving the red-head to nurse his sore arm by himself, sulking all the while. And shooting dirty looks at me. I just flipped him off while nobody looked.

Finally, I saw the tower that consisted of a few trunks of trees that signified that we had reached Mizuho. It was the best dead giveaway you could ask for, and a pretty obvious one. _Too_ obvious, given that the twin trunks of trees connected with another one in between was too out of place to be a natural formation. Since people got lost in the forest often, why shouldn't they stumble on here once in a while, anyway?

Sheena pointed out the structure, which was really unnecessary, because everybody was already staring at it. "That's Mizuho," she announced.

Well, duh.

Zelos kept looking worriedly at Sheena. I guess that he was thinking about the "punishment" she might receive, considering that I knew firsthand about how Mizuho treated outsiders.

Or, how they punished the ones who brought outsiders into Mizuho.

We were the second case.

_**Mizuho's entrance, later**_

Mizuho's often called "The mystical village." But in reality, there's nothing mystical about it, really. It's just a scenic, small village that has a stream running through part of it. The original builders from 4,000 years ago used the stream as a sort of moat to protect the house of the current Chief, given that it was at least eight feet wide at that point.

Talk about Castle Tethe'Alla on a scale of one to 4,000.

The village didn't used to have its walls, from what I heard. They were only erected 2,000 years ago, as a way of preventing invaders from getting into its walls. Besides, the Gaoracchia Forest became what it was today at that time, so that acted as a secondary defense, as Mizuho was always surrounded by forest.

To be exact, the trees around Mizuho weren't the type you'd see in the gloom of the Forest of Death- They'd be what you found in the park in Meltokio. Somehow though, those trees melted into the dead, downright evil trees in the main part of the forest, something I could never figure out.

As Sheena led us the simple arch way that was Mizuho's only entrance (Not in my case) a blue-clothed ninja walked over to us.

Immediately, I slipped behind Zelos and Colette. Mizuho ninjas were pretty much the only people who could track me down, as exemplified during my last stay at Meltokio. It just might get us chased out of Mizuho if they saw me, so…

"Sheena!" The blue-clothed ninja who walked up to us exclaimed. "What is the meaning of this? How could you bring outsiders into the village!?"

"I'm prepared to accept my punishment," Sheena said coolly. "Inform the vice-chief. I've brought travelers from Sylvarant."

"From Sylvarant?" the guy said in amazement. He turned to us. "You are from the dying world of Sylvarant?"

"Well except for me," Zelos said, prompting me to say mentally _I'm from neither._

"I see," the guy said thoughtfully. Sheena turned to us for a second and mouthed _His name is Orochi,_ before he said "Sheena, come with me. The rest of you, please wait in front of the Chief's house."

Sheena nodded, and then walked along side him deeper into Mizuho, where the inhabitants were looking at us with a mixed look of curiosity and amusement at us, as pretty much everyone besides me and the unconscious convict were looking around in amazement.

Speaking the convict, he just woke up, with a look of surprise on his face. Colette, being to one holding him, said "Oh, he's awake," alerting everyone.

Colette lowered his body to the ground, where he rolled over and stood up. "Wh-where am I…?" he asked in a puzzled voice.

Lloyd spoke up immediately. "You're our prisoner. Don't try anything funny," he said instantly.

"I'd like to think that I'm smart enough not to start trouble when I don't understand the situation," the convict replied sarcastically.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd walked around, marveling at the sheer beauty of Mizuho, compared to what the group had gone through in the Gaoracchia Forest.

The stream was sparkling brightly, even in the red, dim sunset. It was also quiet- There wasn't any feeling of rush compared to Sybak and Meltokio. Everything seemed… Peaceful.

The rest of the group was wandering around, looking at the scenery or (In Kendal's case) talking to the storeowner, Puninja, who was apparently the weapon salesman as well- Lloyd planned to stop by there sometime to see what was being sold- He had no intention of having a "second-best" weapon in his hands.

Raine was busy marveling at the unique structure of the houses, to the amusement of the Mizuhoans. She was ranting "Observe this pillar!" or "Look at this wondrous architecture!" while Genis was sulking and tugging at her arm, mumbling at her to stop.

Zelos was attempting to get a woman to fall for him, by flattering her with all sorts of… love talk. The woman was bemused completely, given that many of Mizuho's inhabitants never left the village for periods of some five years most of the time. Finally, fed up with Zelos's persistence, she slapped him in the face and walked off, leaving Zelos standing there and looking like an idiot. With red hand marks on his cheek.

Presea was standing around, doing nothing, pretty much, while Colette was beside her, chatting away happily.

One could say that these guys were _really_ outsiders when it came to even walking around in Mizuho. Except Kendal, who was lying low.

**VWVWVWVWV**

As the others walked over to the deepest part of Mizuho, on what they assumed was the Chief's house, I was busy buying up a few Mizuho potions. Seven of them to be exact. They were my favorite, something that Puninja knew very well, given that I always came here once in a while to nab some of the potion. I had a sweet tooth that craved Mizuho potion so much, I'd pretty much rampage though the entire Gaoracchia Forest just to come here and buy some.

Obsessive to be sure, but you'd do it if you tasted Mizuho potion.

Besides, I could pretty much only come here a few times a year, given that being pursued by the government of Tethe'Alla and the Papal Knights alike prevented me from going into the Gaoracchia Forest often. To me, it was strange that they'd go into the hellhole of a forest just to catch me alive or dead. Then again, the Tethe'Allans and Sylvarantites were suckers for religion, at least most of them.

Because that's what I did to get myself hounded 24/7 – Kill officials who were involved in a phony religion.

I passed Puninja the same price I paid every time I picked up some of the potion- He'd been trafficking it for me for some ten years, since I'd discovered the location of Mizuho, in exchange for me paying a price that was almost twice as high as the shop normally sold them. I didn't care, really. Killing the people I killed always got you lots of money.

I muttered a quick "Thanks" and then walked toward the chief's house. Surrounded by a moat, that was for sure. Going there, I already found the group already massed there, tapping their feet in impatience. Literally.

"What took you so long?" Zelos asked me smugly. Obviously, since I had broken his nose twice in three days, he was attempting to find any attempted, however small, in an attempt to embarrass me.

"What, I only got here a few seconds after _you_ and you're saying that?" I retorted. In truth, it was a bluff that I was perfectly willing to take- Who cared if that wasn't true; I'd get him back later.

As it turned out, it was true. Zelos humphed and turned away. Unfortunately for me, Orochi came up then and said "The Chief if ready to see you."

Well, then, time to run the gauntlet.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Travelers from Sylvarant," a voice spoke from further inside the hut they were in, "You may enter."

"Thank you," Lloyd said politely. They walked past a screen, to find Sheena and a man kneeling. Lloyd looked around as he walked in, and saw a bed with a silk screen draped over it. Before he could ask about it though, the man spoke. "Please sit."

When everyone finished sitting in their usual positions, the man spoke again. "Our Chief is ill. I, the Vice-Chief, Tiga, shall speak on his behalf. Because Sheena failed to kill you, we, the people of Mizuho now face persecution from the Tethe'Alla Royal Family and the Church of Martel."

Lloyd was startled by the last sentence. "Is that true?" he asked, as Sheena, to Tiga's side, hung her head slightly in shame.

Tiga nodded. "Yes, from what I have heard." Then, he paused, and said "Now, I have a question. People of Sylvarant, what are you doing in Tethe'Alla, the land of your enemies?"

Lloyd paused, before he said clearly "I've been thinking about that for a long time. Someone asked me why I came all the way to Tethe'Alla…what it is that I want to do. I want a world where everyone can have a normal life. I'm tired of people having to become sacrifices. I'm tired of discrimination. I'm tired of people becoming victims.

I'm tired of it all."

Tiga chuckled. "You are an idealist. The world's of Tethe'Alla and Sylvarant flourish only by victimizing the others. So long as that system remains the same, anything that is said is mere sophistry."

Lloyd rose suddenly. "Then we need to change that structure!" he burst out. "This world was made by that Yggdrasil guy, right!? If a human or elf built this, then we could change it as well?"

Tiga started laughing. Hard.

Everyone stared at him, until finally he said "You sound just like the hero, Mithos. He ended the Ancient War by insisting there was a way for the two warring countries to find peace. Are you saying you can become the next Mithos?"

**VWVWVWVWV**

I clenched my fingers at the mention of the name. What happened when the question was asked was even more reactive. My arm twitched so violently, that my right hand moved on the straw mat we were sitting on and snapped me out of listening to the exchange between the two men to watch my arm spasm slightly.

While anger flared across my mind, I gripped my gauntleted forearm to control my spasming. Finally, when it died down, as my mind cooled again, I looked up.

_How much did I miss? _I asked myself. Then I heard Tiga say "All you have to do is help us with our move to Sylvarant."

Oh.

They agreed?

"Is everyone okay with the people of Mizuho helping us?"

Every said their affirmatives. I stuck with a simple "Duh."

Zelos, always the pessimistic one, it seemed, asked worriedly "But Tiga, are you sure you wanna turn the royalists and the Church against you?"

"How about if I ask you?" Tiga asked simply. "Given a choice between the forces which wish to sacrifice one of the worlds, and the force that wishes to preserve both worlds, which would you side with?"

"I'd like to say, "the one that's likely to win," but I suppose I'd want to help the side that wants to preserve both worlds."

"Exactly." Then, Tiga turned to us. "Now, the first thing we shall do is devote all our resources to locating the Rheairds. Fortunately, it appears that Sheena attached a guardian to the Rheairds, so we should be able to locate them shortly."

Lloyd nodded. "Thank you for your help." He bowed respectfully to Tiga, then slowly began walking out the room.

I heard Zelos muttering to himself as he went, but I wasn't bothered. He must've panicked because now he couldn't wander through a town and meet up with his "hunnies" in broad daylight now that he had just realized he had cemented his role as a traitor to Tethe'Alla.

But in the process, I suspected he just might become a savior of both worlds.

Even if he was a crossdresser, pervert, narcissist… The list went on and on.

I was the last one to leave, when I suddenly heard Tiga say "You."

I turned, an eyebrow raised. "Me?" I asked quizzically.

He didn't bother saying anything that would contradict me, since that would be a waste of breath. "I recognized you the moment you came into this room," he said.

I kept my eyebrow raised. "So?"

He chuckled. "You know that you are notorious for being the most irritating person in Tethe'Alla and Sylvarant for that matter?"

I shrugged. "Of course I am. I think I still have a bounty on me, set by the Desians. Given what I did, the last time I went there. 5 five years, to be exact."

He chuckled again, then looked up, his expression serious. "Do you remember a day from ten years ago?" He asked.

I tilted my head and looked at him, raising my eyebrow again. "Depends on which day you happen to be referring to."

"A day in Mizuho, then."

At the word "Mizuho" the world suddenly seemed to melt away, and I was drawn back into my memories…

* * *

Kendal: Does that mean (gasp) flashback time!? 

Me: Yup. You can't blame me anyway.

Sheena: It doesn't happen to involve me, does it?

Me: (rolls eyes) Er, duh?

Kendal: That's my line!

Lloyd: That's my line!

Kendal: O RLY?

Lloyd: YA RLY!

Kendal: NO WAI!

Lloyd: YA WAI!

Me: (gags at all the slang)


	25. Flashback: Mizuho, part 1

Thanks to everyone who reviewed this story, I dedicate the 25th chapter of Grudges to you guys!

Kendal: Shouldn't you dedicate _every_ chapter to the guys who review?

Me: That wasn't the way in the beginning.

Kendal: Oh yeah…. THAT time. When nobody even bothered.

Me: You didn't either, so, I had to blackmail you.

Kendal: (sulks) SOB….

Me: (mauls when nobody looks around)

Genis: (sighs) Some things never change.

All: Like the mauling.

Me and Kendal: STFU!

* * *

_**Ten years ago**_

"_YOU DAMN STUPID THINGS!" I roared as I cut though another Boxer Iris who had let its guard down. _

"_FURY DAMNATION!" I bellowed. Immediately, I began to twirl my blade at a speed that made the blade look as if it was just a trick of light, because it was there, ghostly and flicking. I advanced forward. Not even a boxer iris, including one who was stupid enough to wander into my warpath, could make it though my tempest of slices alive, as exemplified by the fact that everything I now walked towards was blasted into hundreds of pieces of bark, bluish blood, and anything that composed formerly of monsters. _

_I had been battling my way through the forest in an attempt to get away from the Papal Knights, but this was ridiculous. I was exhausted, covered in blood, and was frustrated that perhaps I should have chosen to fight against the Papal Knights instead of endure __**this. **_

_I finished my technique, and then dropped onto my knees, panting for breath. I knew that sooner or later, I'd burst through to Ozette, but now, did I even know where to really go? I was totally confused as to where I was the forest, which wasn't uncommon- It was impossible for a person to memorize the layout of the Gaoracchia Forest if you weren't a mapmaker, and I wasn't one. _

_And besides, indications and signs were impossible to place, given the monsters would rip whatever marker you put in about twenty minutes._

_Not that anybody ever really tried to go in here, anyway. _

_I looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief. I had found a sunspot. The monsters never went here, and besides, my skin was feeling clammy from the actual lack of __**any**__ light, so…_

_I walked over, where there was log conveniently placed there, and sat down, rubbing some blood that was running down my forehead in a small trickle. Well, it was really being soaked up by my headband. Thank whatever was in the sky for that. It served more than just covering up painful scars, and horrible memories. _

_Sweeping my eyes around, I saw more ghouls, boxer irises, phantoms, and worse, pumpkin trees. Damn, was this forest meant for annoying me to hell?_

_I stood up. Twilight was approaching, and there was no telling just how many monsters there would be then. Time to go._

_I began walking the opposite direction the sun was setting- East, that is. To the west only meant the Papal Knights, Sybak, and farther, much farther, Meltokio. To the east meant Ozette and whatever else was there, I couldn't place my finger on. In other words, the east was the safest for me to go._

_But damn, why did the forest have to be thick and monster-infested? _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_The girl easily hopped over the creek that surrounded Grandpa's house._

_She was seemingly calm, but in reality, she was trembling from the insults that had been heaped on her by the other children while she was training. _

_She wanted nothing but to make them stop, but just how? She didn't know what she had done. She had only failed on making a pact with Volt, the summon spirit, hadn't she? It was an accident that killed many of Mizuho's population, but wasn't it just an accident? _

_The memory of the shimmering violet and yellow ball of electricity with eyes flooded her vision, and she let out an involuntary whimper. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Amazingly, I only had to fight a few groups of monsters while going further into the forest. The clammy feeling had returned, to be sure, but if I was going through a forest where in most places light never reached the ground, you'd feel it too, wouldn't you?_

_I saw one more undertaker slowly walking towards me. Without stopping, I simply said "Aeroslicer" and just sliced downwards, where I looped the blade back to its original position. Besides, the undertaker, with its head missing, just fell over, its coffin that it wore on its back on the ground, with the body going through its death throes before it stopped twitching, and just like that, the headless body and coffin were unmoving. The coffin, with the door pressed to the ground, had rumbled slightly before it was completely dead, but then I remembered that this… thing was already dead._

_Whatever._

_Finally, looking around in the dim twilight, I found the sign. Old, and having survived for years, the sign was the apparent only permanent marking for guiding people through the forest. Somehow, monsters never bothered with this sign, but even through its marking had long been weathered, every person that wanted to travel through the forest knew about this sign._

_Everyone. _

_I heard voices, from the Ozette side of the forest. "Damn, do we have to go into this hellhole?"_

"_Duh, I'm going! I'm gonna nab the reward for killing the Ravager!"_

"_What's with him? What's the reward?"_

"_Idiot, it's a million gald!" _

"_By the goddess, I'm getting that reward?"_

"_Oh yeah!?" _

"_Yeah, I'm going!" _

_I had to make use of their little argument. Maybe I could take them all out, I wasn't that sadistic. All I wanted to do was have a moment of reprieve- I had pretty much exhausted myself completely with all the monsters in the forest, meaning I most likely would only have a single shot at a Grave Wave, the only thing I knew that could take all of them out at the same time, and even if I could do one, it could only be a short ranged one, about ten feet at least, fifteen at most._

_I hadn't brought any food along, I was out of pineapple and orange gels, with only a few lemon gels left, and I didn't have any true injuries to that would make me need to use them. Besides, it wouldn't give me the energy boost that I needed._

_I knew that I'd have to get out of here, but where? I couldn't go back into the forest, and I could take on the Papal Knights, which, given from just how many voices were speaking, numbered maybe a hundred. _

_That's when I noticed it. _

_A footprint. I stared at it. It was a few meters away from me, and it was dark anyway, but I couldn't believe it- a footprint that led deeper in the forest. Which meant…_

_I had just seen the foot print of somebody who lived in the forest. And the only people who lived in the forest- Perhaps around it, I didn't know- were the people of Mizuho. _

_I suddenly knew what to do._

_I quickly charged towards where the footprint was pointed towards. Another wall of damned plants. Just how did Mizuhoans- If my suspicions were correct, anyway- manage to get through this forest? Did they actually make their own map or something? Did they just memorize it all?_

_Seriously…_

_I dived through a hole in the wall which somehow housed no plants- I silently thanked lady luck when I came through. Tugging a corner of my scarf that had been caught in the thicket while I was going through the barrier, I looked forward again for any sign or indication that Mizuho was there. Seeing an area of cleared roots that was too long to be natural, I ran down the path._

_I suddenly stopped. Sunlight was filtering through another barrier. Which meant that this would lead to open ground, Out of this forest that deserved to torture only sick, sick SOBs. _

_The trees were too thick to let me though, so I decided to get… _

_Explosive._

_I raised my fingers and willed mana to fill the air between the small gaps of the plant barrier, and then I snapped my fingers._

_**BOOM.**_

_It was only a small explosion, but I was sure it had just alerted the Papal Knights that, with luck, might still be outside the forest, continuing their argument about who was going to capture me. Like that would ever really happen, anyway._

_Without further ado I sprinted through the hole in the wall of plants I made, into the dying sunlight and a chance for a reprise. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

"_Vice chief, I'm home," the girl called tentatively. _

_The vice-chief had been there with her that day, when she had been at Volt's temple. He had seen her get flustered at her inability to understand the Summon Spirit of electricity, watched her cower as Volt fired a bolt of lighting at the her which hit the Chief, watched her scream her adoptive grandfather's name as she shook his unresponsive body again and again, with no result. _

_Tiga had also watched, with stunned horror, as many ninja who accompanied Sheena to the temple of Lighting were either killed or stunned by Volt. He had watched as Volt rose up into the sky and out of its temple, and bring down a thunderstorm that had devastated Mizuho, and had disappeared, all while Sheena sobbed her grandfather's name again and again…_

_He rose up and bowed respectfully. Then, as he returned to talking with a shinobi (Who had given the girl a hateful look, which she had cringed at) she headed to her sleeping mat._

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Sometimes, when it came down to it, I slept in treetops._

_While this sounded cool, it was really the most in convenient thing to do at night, especially if that's the only thing that you can sleep on, if nobody's on night watch and you're traveling alone._

_With grumbling on learning that the only place I could sleep on was a large tree with unusually spiky bark, I scaled it, then found the large, albeit uncomfortable branch that was the only way I'd be able to any degree of rest without having to confront a mantis every hour or so. _

_Using my scarf as a pillow, I tentatively lay down and regretted it immediately. The spiked bark immediately pierced my arm as I tried to get some sleep. Even worse, I suspected with a few minutes of this I'd get pins and needles in my arms. I hated the sharp, numb feeling of that._

_Silently cursing whatever deity was above (Ironically, they were the same people I had praised for letting my see the footprint in the Gaoracchia forest in the first place) closed my eyes, and slept._

_Uncomfortably. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_The girl kept tossing and turning, eventually throwing off her yakuta. She just couldn't help but think about all those people, that, because of her, were sad, angry, and most of all, hated her. _

_Eventually, she fell asleep with her thoughts. Because of that, she dreamed of what she wanted to simply forget._

_Volt._

**VWVWVWVWV**

_I yawned as I turned over, opening my eyes. _

_And what do you know, I find myself looking at a tree. Not a trunk of a tree, but the base of the tree._

_Then I realized that I didn't feel anything. Not even pins and needles from sleeping on the branch. _

_Speaking of the branch, what-?_

_The answer came to me so fast, I screamed. Really._

_While tossing and turning, I had thrown myself off the branch and had dropped onto the ground._

_So, if that was the case, why the hell didn't I hurt all over, and why hadn't I woken up?_

_I turned, and promptly rolled off the pile of leaves that I was on, right into the tree._

_After I finally finished roaring and rolling around in pain, I sat up, and looked above me. Yep, my scarf was back up there, as well as my cleaver. My knives, they always stayed on my belt. My pack, no problems, it was up there as well._

"_Eventful morning, huh?" I muttered to myself as I reclimbed the tree. If you talked about rolling into a tree trunk, and before that falling onto a pile of leaves sleeping ten feet above ground eventful. _

_**Later**_

_Deciding to wander around this place, which, in my years and years of life, I had never reached, I found that the forest of death morphed into a pleasant one. Since Tethe'Alla was prospering right now, I wouldn't have to worry about monsters, but really, bandits were always a problem. No matter how strong, how tough, or how fast you are, you're always helpless while you sleep._

_Anyway, the real reason I wanted to wander around was I wanted to check out Mizuho, if it really was around here. Shinobi, whatever they called themselves, didn't just spawn from nothing, so this part of the forest- Well, really, a place isolated by it, just had to be the place for Mizuho to be hidden. Otherwise, they'd just be wiped out by the monsters who always were in the Gaoracchia Forest. _

_Curiosity value, really._

_That's when I noticed a particularly thick band of trees. They looked relatively young, but even stranger, they were all grouped together._

_Feeling a sudden burst of suspicion, I began to walk slowly forward._

_Nothing jumped out at me. Nothing appeared._

_I resumed my regular pace, and…_

_I saw it, through a gap in the trees._

_And arch way with a weird line of words, written in a random symbolic language, was right there. 2 guards were there, appearing to be motionless, but I could see that their chests were slowly rising and falling. _

_Man, these ninja guys were talented. I doubted that I could restrict my breathing that much._

_It was a basic fact that Mizuho was a village hidden in order to protect its unique culture- They were unique in everyway, from their purpose of life, to how their houses were built, to their native language… Well, you get the idea. _

_So, I snuck around the village, strafing around the walls that so isolated the village from seeing much of the outside world, but let them see the tops of the trees._

_Strange. I'd never want to live in a village like this, even if I was born here. Why did they even bother with fortifying themselves? They were secluded enough, being accessible only through the Gaoracchia forest and all._

_After a minute of walking around the walls, I heard voices. _

_Eager to hear the words of another human being (Besides ones that were trying to kill me, anyway) I pressed my ears to the wall. _

"_Hey, you!" I heard a voice shout. Probably a boy's. "Why can't mommy come back? Why did you have to kill her?"_

_**Huh**_

_I pressed my ears closer, as a girl's voice was heard, stammering a fearful apology. _

"_Why can't you bring her back, you murderer? Why?"_

_This was making my blood boil. I quickly began looking for a way to get over the wall to see what was going on, but I didn't realize what was going to happen next._

_I heard another boy yell in rage "DAMN YOU!" And a heavy thudding sound._

_I hated it when people mocked, tortured, or otherwise attempted mental or physical harm to people who never really wanted to do anything. Maybe this girl had accidentally dropped a knife on somebody's head or something. But hell, it was never their fault, was it? _

_Was it?_

_Finding no way to climb or jump over it, I whipped out my daggers, jammed the tips in, and began climbing. _

_I heard other yells of both buoys, and girls, which receded as I went up. To be expected, as I was distancing myself from them as I climbed up the wooden wall like a spider, in a rapid pace that would put even natural spiders to shame. _

_Finally, I was over it. I perched myself on top and looked down. _

_I saw about five people crowding around a girl in a purple dress. A weird one, anyway. They were all children, but from the voices they were using, they could have been psychotic killers for all I knew. _

_They would have continued their stream of curses, hits, and general insults if I hadn't snapped (Again) and jumped down. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_The girl braced herself for another blow when the others gave a single, chorused gasp and began backing away. And then a light thump. _

"_Now, what the hell did this girl do to you?"_

_She opened her eyes, and saw, to her amazement…_

_An outsider._

_She only saw his back, but that was already intimidating. A gigantic sword hung across his back, its hilt pointing towards his right shoulder. A huge scarf covered his back, with only a thin slit between the two tails of the scarf. _

_The two __**huge **__tails of his scarf. His clothes, they were brown, just like the spikes of his hair- brown pants that went all the way down his legs, a sleeveless shirt._

_She looked around the person. The girl saw everybody backing away. One of them- The bravest one, the one who had first hit her- was attempting to say something, but it looked like his entire body was frozen._

_Well, it was- she couldn't even see a single muscle twitch. _

_Who was this man?_

* * *

Yay, my first completely-flashback chapter's ended well! 

Kendal: Agh, will you just tell the main story already? Besides, the other SOBs are laughing at us.

Me: What, it's your character development...

Kendal: WTF is that?

Me: I HATE YOU, INTERNET SLANG USER! DAMN SICK SON OF A -beep-ING B-beep-!

Lloyd: (sweatdrop)

Genis: Thank god we have the censor...

Kendal: Thank god, I don't want to make my ears bleed from this idiot's ranting...

Me: F-beep- YOU! MAULIIIIIINNNNGGGG!!!!

Kendal: Oh, s-beep-!

All: (turns away to avoid watching the bloodfest) _  
_


	26. Flashback Mizuho, Part 2

I… begin… writing… this… chapter the day before my first day of school…

Kendal: (pretend sympathy) What's the grade?

Me: (weeps) Eighth…

Kendal: (grins behind my back)

Me: (twitches) Summer vacation… wasn't… long… enough… Nooo…

Kendal: (steals cream pie, begins sneaking up on me)

Sheena: Should we tell him?

Everyone: Nah. (evil)

* * *

_I looked around. They were still frozen from my death glare, and no wonder- I was doing it with rage as a conviction. It was all I could do to not give them one hell of a thrashing. _

"_Well?" I demanded. "Say something already!"_

_Lucky for them, I still had a degree of control over my mouth- I wasn't about to go totally ballistic on them. That'd be a disaster- Sooner or later, somebody would find out, I'd be kicked out of the village, and maybe poked in the butt with a shiny steel Mizuho-crafted sword while running with my tail between my legs. _

_Speaking of which, why did I say that? I didn't have a tail. _

_The boy that was attempting to say something __**finally**__ got his mouth working right. "She… she…"_

"_What?" I snapped, directing my ultimate death glare at him._

_He froze completely. It looked impossible, to be sure- He was still breathing, and if you felt him he would have still had a pulse. But the thing is nothing besides vital body functions moved. Not even his eyes._

"_H-hey! L-l-leave- leave him alone!" One girl piped up, attempting to draw attention from the poor guy._

_Which I did._

_She froze, just like the other kid I had frozen on spot. _

_Finally, after another minute of silence, another boy spoke up. _

"_That girl, you're standing in front of, mister-"His voice faltered as I turned my death stare to him. _

_The final member of the vicious gang, a girl, finished the sentence for him. "She killed our parents, but the Vice-Chief still won't cast her out of the village."_

"_How?" I demanded. "Tell me already!"  
_

"_She set that Summon Spirit that lives in the temple north of Ozette!" The first boy burst out. "She's a summoner; she let the spirit get out of control-!" _

"_And… just why… would she purposely let… Volt… out of control?" I asked through gritted teeth._

_The bullies all looked taken aback by both me knowing the name of the summon spirit and the fact that they visibly saw my teeth clench. Given by their looks of horror/terror, they had obviously realized that I was sooner or later going to exploded completely on them._

_And they still couldn't move. I still had my killer death stare on._

"_W-well…" A girl stammered. Then, she burst out "But, but it doesn't matter! She let Volt-"_

"_Can you just get fucked up out of my sight already? Please, or I'll… do… things."_

_I had officially had enough of these bastards. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Just like the others, the girl was scared._

_The boy, who's voice had seemed just like another teenager, spoke mature words that children should never hear, as her grandfather had told her. But it seemed that this person's laws of what should be spoken to children had snapped completely, given that she could see her ally's arm twitching._

_The others, they simply stared as they backed away slowly. They had never heard that term to be sure- Only she might have heard it, as she had heard numerous swearwords being exchanged by ninja attempting to escape Volt's onslaught._

_The others, finally getting their courage back, burst into tears and ran. Crying. She couldn't hear them sob, but she sure could see their tears slide down their faces, leaving glistening tracks of liquid where they dripped._

_The girl hastily wiped away at her eyes, but it was already too late- The man made turned._

_Just by looking into his face, she was stunned. He looked like he was only seventeen or eighteen. There wasn't any hint of a moustache, and there was a childish, young look still in his face. _

_Or what seemed like the remnants of one. The face was neutral in expression, but for all the girl knew, he could have had the face of an enraged dragon. Because…_

_His eyes. The gold eyes that seemed to radiate sheer coldness. Suddenly, he shook his head. When he stopped shaking and resumed staring at her, she saw that his cold look was gone. Just a sort of curiosity, as he was tilting his head at her, in puzzlement. _

"_Were they really attacking you even though you're the farthest person that looks evil enough to purposely let loose a summon spirit possible? Mind you, I bet you don't even have to guts to kill at all."_

_The girl's face flushed. "Y-yes I can kill, I've killed plenty of monsters in the-!"_

_The… person's face raised an eyebrow. "-Gaoracchia Forest, blah blah. Yeah, I bet anybody can, because they monsters and they are damn abominations, but can you even bear to see a human being killed, much less with your own hands?"_

**VWVWVWVWV**

_I could tell from her face that she was surprised at my seemingly unrestrained tongue and also she was a bit scared at what I was saying. So, I did damage control. _

"_Definitely not, your eyes are the dead giveaway way, really."_

_Her face lost the offended look. "Wh-what?" She asked, shocked. "How do you see in my-"_

_I shrugged. "Just an ability of mine, really. A useful one, as well. Ever heard the eyes are the window of the soul? It means whoever gets the ability to see the true expression in somebody's eyes can find the truth of a person's character."_

_I could see the girl looking awed. Whoops. Why the hell did I have to go into long, complicated speeches about myself when I just wanted to know the real reason behind their seemingly constant loathing of this girl?_

"_So… what's the deal with you and them?" Then, I mentally punched myself for being stupid. Of course I knew that. "I mean, do they really believe that you did it on purpose?"_

_The girl suddenly got the down look again, letting a slightly awkward silence commence. _

"_Err…" I said weakly. "Hello?"_

_She looked up. "Yes." She said. "They… believe that."_

_I suddenly realized that she was saying it in a sort of heavy voice… liked, as if, she…_

_Believed it. She actually believed it. And, from my (hopefully) accurate assessment of her, she just wasn't the type to kill anyone, nor was she the one to purposely let lose control of a summon spirit. _

_**She's just like you,**__ I reminded myself. __**You take all the blame for killing all of them just like this girl. **_

_**Them. The ones that had originally made hell life a sort of minor hell. But, nobody deserves to just die like that, mass slaughtered like you did that. Besides, there's no one to blame but yourself, considering, you know yourself that you're the main and only perpetrator. **_

_**You caused that. You know that, don't you?**_

_**Okay, there was a second guy in the plot, the root of it all, but you're the one that did it, remember?**_

"_So," the girl said in a sort of timid voice, "Where are you from? You are an outsider, right?"_

"_Yeah," I said distractedly, trying to clear my session of self-blaming from my head completely. "Yeah, that's right."_

"_Then…" Her voice sort of brightened. "You're here from the king, right?"_

_I suddenly remembered that the only people who ever could come to Mizuho were pretty much the ones sent by the king. Which meant, anyone would consider myself an outsider, from the king himself. _

_I hastily removed my scarf just as the girl turned and began to walk out of sort of alley that were in. She had sounded hopeful that she had made a new friend. Well, that was just a wild guess. _

_Or maybe not, as I racked my brains for previous/recent events, say the most recent sentence spoken by somebody other than me. _

_Yep, the tone was definitely a sort of hope. Wonder if I could actually make it real. And I didn't even know her name yet._

_So, I just decided to follow her. I walked out of the narrow alley between the two buildings that looked more like huts than modern buildings, and…_

**VWVWVWVWV**

_The girl felt her spirits, which had been down since her awakening on this day float up with the thought of this kind outsider. She was slightly stinging from the comments she had made (All Mizuhoans, herself included, were devoid of true emotion when they needed to kill) but he had helped her drive away the other children that had been teasing and hitting her, so what was really bad about him? He had looked sorry for his comments anyway._

_She looked back. The man was coming out from the alley, looking around in amazement. She had seen those looks before, seeing whenever envoys entered the village- The look of thunderstruck amazement at their surroundings. Sometimes they were so thunderstruck that they tripped over their feet looking around. And, in some cases, they didn't even notice themselves stumbling. They just picked themselves up and continued looking around._

_The most extreme case was the situation for the stranger- He was looking around with wide eyes, an open mouth, and he was constantly stumbling over his own feet or small rocks that a normally aware person would have never tripped on._

_That was to be expected. Even if it was a little extreme, of course, until he stepped on a passing girl's foot. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Distracted from my looking-around-in-amazement-trance, I looked around wildly and fell over, right into yet __**another**__ person, that, once confirmed by looking around, was another girl. Immediately, people began gathering around. Wow. A scene. Apparently pretty rare in Mizuho, since ninjas were never clumsy. As they say.  
_

_Well, most of them. _

_And so, there I was, apologizing at a manic's pace, while the two girls screamed at me in a language I just didn't damn understand. So, finally, as they began screaming in particularly shill tones at a level of indignation that only bats would be able to hear soon…_

_I roared "JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"_

_That silenced the angry, indignant girls into a temporary state of shock which allowed me to say a hurried "I'm sorry, so, if anybody understands in that crowd" I pointed at the frightened, wide-eyed group encircling the three of us "please" I raised my voice "FRICKIN' TRANSLATE FOR WHAT 'I'M SORRY' MEANS!"_

_I shoved my way out of the circle, who seemed just plain too shocked to move. _

_The girl was standing there, just looking slightly awed of me. "How did you do that?" Was the first thing that she asked as soon I was close enough to hear her. _

"_No idea," I said simply, shrugging. _

_That's when she tripped._

_We were walking to where I assumed was the chief's house, when I realized that she was on her toes of what I now saw was a pair of brown leather sandals, flailing around her arm wildly._

_I could only stare at her dumbly. She was a ninja, wasn't she? Every person ever born in Mizuho was considered a ninja. All just rumors, and I had only a few half-baked facts known to me about ninjas, and one solid and fact that just screamed out at you was that they were graceful, and therefore, they never tripped. _

_I didn't even know what this girl had tripped on. The ground was smooth and even, so it meant…_

_I groaned. Man, this girl sure as hell had a lack of muscular coordination. I watched as she managed to move her body backwards, and then slam into the ground right on to her butt. _

_She jumped up with a red face, flustered. I fought back a chuckle that sneaked back in a smile, at which she gave me a reproachful look. _

_Passing through more roads, between houses, and a bunch of people that had the same dirty look that they all had towards the girl I was following. Well, they had the scowl, until they saw me. Gauntlet that I'd forgotten to wrap. The spiked fins to the sides of the wrist guard part of the gauntlets, a few inches away from the ruby, piercing eyes of the gauntlet's "head" as it was shaped like a real dragon's head. Without, of course, the ugly V-shaped ridge that crested each dragon's head._

_And, who could forget the huge, five-foot broadsword which just hovered above the ground? My weird fashion sense didn't help. _

_Wait, did I say that?_

_Finally, we found a house that happened to be surrounded with a moat. In other words, a kind of representation of royalty. All castles, A.K.A. all houses, whether a castle, tavern, or whatnot that had royalty or at least a kind of royalty that resided permanently in whatever structure I had described almost always had a moat around it. _

_Dead giveaway, really. _

"_The chief's house is over there," The girl said, pointing (unnecessarily) at the house with the moat. "I'll go there and make arrangements."_

_She ran off, leaving me shaking my head. What else was she, precocious girl, semi-klutz, and a magnet for bullying?_

_And so, I decided to explore this place a bit. If the guys in the village were well-informed enough to be able to almost catch me (There was a close call a couple of months ago) then I had maybe only a few minutes before I had to run for it. _

_Besides, I'd planned to get a souvenir for that girl I had befriended. So, without further ado, I decided to search for a shop._

_If there even actually was one._

_Spotting a guy dressed in blue behind a vendor's stand, I quickly approached him "Excuse me, sir-" I began._

"_-Are you looking for a shop?" He finished for me._

_I stared at him in surprise, which he calmly put off with a "Everybody who enters Mizuho never expects this village to actually have a shop of its own. Which they are very wrong."_

"_Oh."_

_That was all I could say. The guy who had assassinated at least five Popes of the Church of Martel, the guy who could take on 50 people and still win, the guy who could sense mana, the guy who could think up with strategies in an almost constant stream. Me, the guy who did all that, could only say a stupid sounding "Oh."_

_We both burst out laughing. I, notably, was down on the ground, laughing harder and harder until I was clutching my sides in pain. _

_And, yes, I attracted another crowd of onlookers who were amused that anybody could get all cracked up about somebody just saying "Oh."_

_Finally getting up, I saw the seller getting up as well, looking sheepish. Just like me- We were both embarrassed to be in the center of attention in this rather… unothorodox…. way._

"_So," I said, hoping desperately that I didn't draw anymore attention, "You have anything that I can write on?"_

"_Are you talking about guardians, sir?" He said politely. _

_I just looked at him if he was insane. "since when did…. These guardian things become affiliated with… what ever they are?"_

_He calmly pulled something thin from under the vendor stand (Which now had some more of that weird text) and produced a gray card. _

_I stared at it. There were runes written all over it, in a language that I couldn't understand. The same kind of language on the top of the vendor stand and the entrance archway to Mizuho. "Here," he told me. "Slash the edge along that tree over there."_

_I looked doubtfully at the card I was holding, but I just decided to go along with whatever he was saying. I just walked over (Thankfully, nobody was looking at the two of us like we were deranged anymore) and swiped the edge. _

_Immediately, the card sort of glittered in a flash. Blinking away the light imprints I was seeing, I discovered that the card wasn't bent, or twisted. It had just gone straight through. _

_I quickly slashed off a piece of bark with one of my daggers- I had to see if what had happened was true or not. Jamming my dagger back into its sheath, I tossed up the piece of bark which I had swiped in midair, and…_

_The card went straight through the bark and kept going. The bark though, it shattered in two the moment it struck the dirt ground._

_I stared at the gray card I holding in wonder, while the vendor guy was looking at me, amused. "See, sir?" He told me. "these cards are not normal- These are razor sharp thanks to the runes inscripted on the card itself. This gives it the ability to cut through most things. There are much more powerful cards than that one you happen to be holding" He pointed at what I was holding "And in fact, that one is the weakest."_

_I whistled. "Seriously?"_

"_He just nodded. Nothing needed to be said. _

"_Okay, then I'll buy that," I said. Then an idea hit me. "Uh, mister…"_

"_Puninja." _

"_Okay, then… uh, are these runes a sort of power-giving words? Like prayers to a summon spirit or something?" _

_Puninja stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, they are. But, apparently, they are not the most powerful. The truly power guardian cards are ones inscripted with ancient elvish prayers."_

_Ah ha. That was why I had noticed a certain kind of card in the Meltokio Coliseum that had writing on it. Ancient elvish. It was a prayer to the source and beginning of all._

_A.K.A. Origin._

_Seriously…_

"_Anyway, I'll buy this" I said hurriedly, remembering that I only had a little while to go before the peeps at the Chief's house or whatever it was called recognized me. _

"_That'll be 135 gald," Puninja said smartly. I quickly dug through my second pack that contained the 100-gald notes when I remembered something. _

"_You don't happen to have a load of Mizuho potion, do you?"_

"_Yes, but-"_

"_GIVE IT TO ME!" A short silence. "PLEASE! PRETTY PLEASE!" Another short silence. "OKAY, FINE! I'LL PAY FOR IT! JUST GIVE MEEEEEEE!!!!"_

**VWVWVWVWV**

_She reached the chief's house, where a ninja who didn't blame her for what had happened- He had been there at the Volt accident, to be sure- was standing on guard. _

"_There's another person from the king that's arrived," She told him. Immediately, he frowned._

"_There's already another person from the king inside talking with Tiga. Why would the king send a second envoy when there is already a first?"_

* * *

Me: There you go! Oh, and sorry about the disclaimer issue. I don't own anything even remotely related to Namco. Otherwise, you wouldn't want to know. 

Kendal: S'cuse me...

Me: What?

Kendal: (evil) This. (holds up pie)

Me: WTF? Since when did you ever-

Kendal: Look! Raine is coming at you for bad language!

Me: CRAP! (looks around) Hey, where'd she-!?

Kendal: (smashes pie)

Me: ...

Genis: Yay! That was cool!

Sheena: Uh, you might not want to say that again...

Genis: What? (looks around) Okay, you're right. (backs away)

Kendal: Oh, sh...

Me: MEGATON PIE CANNON OF D00M!!11!!!1!

(censored for pie-ish pwning and lots of cream)


	27. Flashback: Mizuho, part 3

Chapter 27. And god, finally, a week of school finished…

Kendal: DO NOT USE THE LORD'S NAME IN VAIN.

Me: WTF!!!!

Kendal: What?

Me: Are you telling me you just became a Christian!?

Kendal: What the hell is a Christian?

Me: OMFG DIZ GUY KN0WS N07H1NG AB0U7 WHT H3 TLKZ AB0UT

Kendal: backs away

Raine: BAD LANGUAGE, YOUNG MAN!

Me: NOOO!!! DON'T GIVE ME THE-

Genis: Shut up already. Raine, do it.

Me: SLAG!

raineownage v.10XX

Kendal: (evil grin) Anyway, screamingedge does not own anything even remotely related to Namco. Otherwise…. You wouldn't want to know.

Me: DAMN YOOOOOUUUUU!!!!

* * *

_The girl stared at her fellow shinobi uncomprehendingly. _

"_What do you mean?" she asked. "He told me that he was from the king. I was going to tell the Vice-Chief that he was coming."_

_He gave her another weird look. "What? There is already an envoy from the king inside." He rubbed his covered chin, which hid a scar from the incident with Volt. "Or…"_

_She looked at him questioningly. "What?"_

"_He could be an imposter. But then again, only the envoys of the king know about Mizuho…" He paused, and then sighed. "We won't know for sure, until he comes to the chief's house."_

"_I'll lead him," She told him, before walking away._

**VWVWVWVWV**

_I after I finally calmed down from my rant of sheer obsessiveness, I decided to make a deal to Puninja, now that I knew where to find Mizuho, and there for the only place to find Mizuho potions- I had only stumbled on a half-empty bottle a month ago, and since I was a slave for anything sweet, I instantly snatched it and proceeded to attempt to find out the location of Mizuho. _

_And now, I was here, having brought six of them from the only shop that sold them. I was already envisioning that I was tasting some…_

"_Okay," I said in a low voice to Puninja. The seller lowered his ear. "If you hold onto about five potions every few months just for me, then I'll pay twice the price I'll regularly pay."_

_He turned his mouth, which I promptly turned my own ear to him. "Do you mean…"_

"_Yes," I breathed, "I know Mizuho's location. Seriously. Oh, and I'm the most notorious criminal in Tethe'Alla right now, and besides, I bet you don't even get lots of business in this village at all except envoys."_

_I withdrew my head and looked at him closely. He was leaning against the counter with an elbow propped against the counter, drumming his fingers in thought. _

_Finally, after a precious thirty seconds were wasted, he said "Why should I trust you?"_

_The answer came readily. "I'm a slave to sweet things. Really. My sweet tooth is a sort of mega-obsession. And besides" I said, bringing my head in closer, "If I wasn't trust worthy, why did I even bother paying you when I could have just knocked you out and nabbed the potions myself?"_

_Obviously finding no way to object to that statement, he nodded. _

_I grinned to myself, but on the outside, I just bowed. Simple. _

_Then I remembered the Spell Card that I had just brought. Seeing a sort of brush that was in an inkpot right by a post of the stand, I quickly snatched it and whipped out the Spell Card, slamming it on the stand. _

_Before Puninja could object, I began slowly, meticulously writing my name in Ancient Elvish. _

_By the time was finished, there wasn't a single strand of ink on the card that was out of place. The ink, already dry, glittered in the sunlight, which, when I looked up, was already at its high most point._

_Noon already. Whoa._

"_What is that writing?" A voice asked. I looked away from the sky and discovered Puninja having taken up the card in his hands and examining it. "This is not Mizuhogo." _

_I guessed that was their language. Anyway…_

"_It's my own language." Then, I remembered. Did the card's cutting ability still stand when its runes were covered? Almost always that was the case whenever it was covered- I had seen cloaks, armor, and weapons become useless by simply covering the runes in mud or a covering that obstructed natural light to shine on them. _

_Well, the covering had to be completely covering and sticking to a _

"_Do these runes lose their power when they're covered?" I asked, nervously. _

"_Yes," He said, handing it back to me. "However, carrying a guardian is very dangerous, unless you keep it in a special pocket that some Mizuhoans wear. They keep off the light from the runes as they're very elastic, which stops it from simply cutting into a person when even little force is applied to a guardian."_

"_Oh. Thanks for telling me. Bye."_

_I was off before he knew it._

_Now, to find that girl…_

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Tiga was just finishing up business with an envoy when a ninja walked in, and bowed respectfully. _

"_Excuse me," Tiga told the envoy, who nodded, stood up, and retreated to another side of the room. "What is it?" He asked, as the ninja rose. _

"_There's supposedly another envoy, sir. Sheena-chan has supposedly made contact with him."_

_Tiga stared at him, confused. "What?" He turned to the envoy, who was also looking confused. Just by looking at him made Tiga realize that…_

_He stood up suddenly. "Go get a squad, and tell them to report to me. We will find that imposter."_

**VWVWVWVWV**

"_God," I grumbled to myself, as I kept going around in Mizuho, "Where the hell did she go?"_

_Searching, searching, searching. That's what had just happened with the girl's apparent disappearance. What was going on? Then again, she had ran off when I was finding a souvenir for her- _

_I snapped my fingers. Why had I been so stupid? The chief's house. That girl was heading towards the house with the moat around it. Obviously._

_Whacking myself, I set out for that house, hoping desperately the girl had been held by somebody and hadn't talked to the Chief yet. _

_Turns out that was so very wrong. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_The girl thought about the stranger while she leaned against the wall of the chief's house._

_He seemed a nice person, yet she knew that everyone around her hid behind forced smiles. Everyone that hated her, at least. _

_No. He might have not smiled around her yet, but he had definitely stood up for her against the other children. He had even sent them crying away from her, with words that no child should ever hear. _

_She wondered why the one she had talked to had come out of the house with such a worried expression…_

**VWVWVWVWV**

_That particular ninja was sitting on a rooftop, watching a figure in brown walk quickly down a street- Or was it even a fast pace for the person at all? From what he had been able to see of his face, it was very young- About 17-18. However, there was no beard, no even a trace of one. No moustache._

_The one looked as if his face was stuck in youth. How? Just… how?_

_He wore a long scarf that skimmed the ground lightly, fluttering slightly in the pace of his walk. His right hand was covered with a gauntlet that was covered in such a realistic mimic of a dragon's head that the ruby, glittering eyes of the "head" gave him the chills. He ripped his eyes away from that one point, and examined him again. A gigantic sword, possible a broadsword, hung from his back in a sheath._

_Was this the one that was the outsider that was masquerading as a Tethe'Allan envoy? _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Finally reaching the front of the chief's house, I suddenly stopped. _

_Something was wrong. Very. _

_For one thing, my senses were tingling. This wasn't something to be ignored- My senses had gotten me out of a damning amount of situations before, so I pretty much came to rely on them. They always felt sort of fuzzy whenever they wanted to tell me something, and right now, they were buzzing like crazy. _

_Even though nobody was looking at me with particular interest. Which meant…_

_Not slowing down my pace, I swung my neck both ways, scanning anything higher than the ground._

_There. 5 people were hovering low on the rooftops, waiting. So, I suddenly stopped, and stowed away the Spell Card I had been clutching._

_I waited. Most likely, as they were scattered among the rooftops, they'd attack now- I was roughly in the center of their positions. If they didn't go for it now, they'd lose a tactical advantage._

**VWVWVWVWV**

"_We're all positioned," The ninja breathed. Even better, their target had stopped completely. _

_He quickly flashed the hand symbol for __**go**__ to the others. They flashed their own affirmatives. So, they all flashed each other numbers counting back wards._

_5… 4… 3… 2… 1…_

_At zero, they leaped._

**VWVWVWVWV**

_I darted my eyes around._

_Bingo. They had all jumped in a coordinated fashion._

_Without further ado, I threw my torso and everything above it therefore downwards, so that I was pretty much nose to nose with the ground, with my arms sticking at a 45 degree angle from my sides, making them pretty much parallel to my body._

_Too bad for the guys who had just jumped at me. I was, literally, going high._

**VWVWVWVWV**

_That's when the ninjas saw the person that they were assigned to track, capture, and bring back to their chief drop his torso so that his entire top half of his body was leaning precariously between his legs. _

_That's when he jumped. There was no other way to describe it. He just… jumped._

_He suddenly threw his torso, only so low a few seconds ago, to so high as he rocketed upwards, his scarf trailing him like a brown afterburn. _

_They immediately landed on their feet, careful not to slam into one another as they kept their eyes on the receding figure in the sky. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_There's a weird thing to me, whenever I drop my upper half of body and then throw it up, dragging the rest of my body with it._

_For one thing, it's relaxing to watch the sky just sit there as you rise up. I guess that's just the wind. That's why grasswhistling always seems so relaxing to me- the sound in my ears of wind rushing past them was somehow a sort of heaven. _

_That's why I had a habit of 'accidentally' falling down cliffs- I just wanted to experience that sound of rushing wind. It took a lot out of me to do this sort of jump, as well._

_I felt the sound of wind recede in my ears completely. Yep. My ascension was complete. Any moment now…_

_I threw my torso back down and began rocketing down the thirty feet I had just cleared, whipping out my cleaver in the process. What would happen next was for only people with weird fantasies. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_They all gaped up at the target. Every kuniochi, shinobi, everyone. They could all see that the boy had gone to a height only rivaled by the two connected towers in the front of the village. _

_Now, the person up there was doing the impossible- He was spinning, like a drill downwards. _

_Even worse, it was a deadly one. His cleaver was slicing the air sharply as he spiraled downwards. Anyone who was there at his place of landing would be instantly shredded to pieces, given just how many times he spun though twelve inches/one foot._

_To be exact, 5 times per twelve inches. 5. That was their estimate, at least._

_They all jumped away, just as the brown-clad man (?) hit the ground. But not before a voice, somewhere in the middle spectrum between high and low shouted "Blade Rocket!" _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_It's always weird, seeing the world from up high spiral and rotate. _

_But, as a battle technique, it's one of the most vicious possible. Damningly vicious. I had learned that from a certain brave hawk that I had once fought. Rather, it was storm claw- Regular hawks were too fragile. _

_The vicious (Rare, though, given that Tethe'Alla was in an era of prosperity) had risen up in the air, a few hundred feet, before blasting downward at a speed I only managed to have dodged by sidestepping a few inches. I had intended to slash it in two just as it come within my range, but the speed of the wind turbulence gathered and the sheer rate of speed gave me hardly enough time at all to dodge the drill-like motion._

_Even more insane, the wind that was kicked up by the spinning dive of the storm claw was actually visible. And sharp. Sharp enough to give me a set of five deep but thin slashes to my left forearm. _

_That had been years ago, when I had used a regular broadsword. To be exact, a hundred years. I had only gotten my current cleaver fifty years ago __**(A/N: Yes, this reveals when Kendal got his diamond-edged cleaver, and since this is told from his younger (Not by much, though) narrative, this means that when I began the story it was sixty years since Kendal began using the diamond edged one.)**__ and besides, I doubt that with a diamond edge (My steel one was totally bent out of shape, warped and torn from the sheer velocity of the wind) could have stopped the storm claw._

_Which was precisely the reason I had adapted it. I even gave it a name. "Blade Rocket," given that I rose up in the air and sent my current enemy with me with a good old drag through the air before performing the downward drill. In which they would be most likely shredded to pieces. _

_Still though, I don't have the wings of a hawk. Or storm claw. Or bird. Whatever. They thing is, I'd slam into the ground with absolutely lethal force if I didn't adjust my downward spiral at the last moment, so that's how I was forced to develop a sort of "flip slash" that occurred whenever I was a second off the ground. Never less than a second- I wasn't that acrobatically insane to risk having an instant concussion like I had once when I had tried to use a half a second to do the landing. _

_That had hurt. Even though pain was like second nature to me that had hurt like hell enough to make me writhe with agony. Pure, damning agony. _

_Enough to make me actually scream, but you wouldn't want to know the real details. Because, I swear you'd throw up instantly. _

_Only a few feet from the ground- Less than three, really- I backflipped, the same type of flip I had used to go to my high of thirty feet, and landing flat on my feet. But not before my cleaver slashed straight through ground with no effort at all, just sheer speed from my fall. Besides, the wind spiral that I had formed undulated, spreading over the dirt ground. The five ninjas that had originally leaped at me, they were barely at the edge of the limit of the wind spiral's cutting influence- Quite simply, they were at the limit of the strength of the wind I had kicked up to be able to cut through something. Anything except dirt, anyway. _

_Anyway, I landed in a sort of cool stance- My left hand was on the ground. I was putting my weight on it, which helped keep my broadsword up, which happened to be away from my body's front in a 45 degree angle that was held higher than my head. Slightly._

_I shoved myself up, sheathing it along the way, and looked around. _

_What looked like Mizuho's entire population was gluing their eyes to me like I was the weirdest specimen possible. Well, I was considered, weird, even as criminal, so what was the difference?_

_Still though, I hated being X-rayed like this from the eyes of so many people. I hated it when it was tense, and silent. Sure, in battle, maybe, I could stand it. ...No. That was only because I was too busy being alert to attackers to bother with people staring at me. _

_More likely, with "Battle fever."_

_Finally, when I was about to say something, one of the five guys who had jumped at me stepped forward. "How did you find Mizuho?" He demanded._

_Yeah, right. Like I'd ever try to respond to a guy spewing crap like that. "Um, let's see," I said sarcastically, "I get chased by a bunch of assholes, I come here looking for some rest, and ohmygosh, you people are trying to drive me out. Wow. Cruelty."_

_Most people in the crowd didn't get it, given from their blank looks, but the others who did- About a third of them- Looked outraged. Before they could start spewing their own words of disrespect, I added "Oh, and by the way, you guys look weird. Why do you men wear dresses? Do you guys crossdress or something? Or…" I mock-gasped. "I know! You guys are prostitutes! Oh my! I'm going to be raped soon! Noooo!!!"_

_They looked even more steamed than they already were. Well, only the regular men wore dresses, but that was a good point to hit, and besides, it was fun annoying people to hell. _

"_What is the meaning of this?"_

_I heard a serious, commanding tone saying those words and I turned partially, to behold a figure dressed in orange and white robes. Apparently, given that the others were bowing towards him, he seemed to be in a position of leadership. _

"_Well?" _

_I could only shrug in which I hoped was an innocent gesture. _

_That when one of the others piped up. "Vice-Chief! This is the one that we have been assigned to search for!"_

_I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, you," I snapped. "I don't need to be the subject of such rants and boasts."__** Idiotic rants and boasts,**__ I reminded myself._

_As if they weren't already pissed off, the unbelievable happened._

_Their faces turned purple, dammit. __**Purple.**_

_They began to stalk forward when the guy who was apparently the Vice-Chief called "Wait. Let me question him."_

"_B-but-"One of them stuttered in rage._

_Ignoring him, the… chief… asked me "How did you find Mizuho?"_

_I shrugged. "Accident."_

_He looked at me with a tilted head. "How would somebody find this place by accident? The only way to find this village is the Gaoracchia Forest, or to fly and somehow see this village. You most likely cannot fly unless you have a Rheaird, which you most likely have no idea about."_

_How wrong he was. Man, seriously. I knew every damn thing about a Rheaird that would stagger even an angel. Wait a minute. No, they didn't do that, they flew with their wings. That felt… inconvenient. And slow._

_Okay, I knew more info than an average Rheaird mechanic. Which, the only people I knew of, happened to be a bunch of Renegades. _

"_I went through the Gaoracchia Forest. Seriously. I just saw a random footprint, and viola, I'm headed towards here. Happy?"_

_He raised an eyebrow. "We Mizuhoans do not drop footprints often."_

_I shrugged. "You guys are good. I can tell you that." I saw their chests swell with pride, the ones who could understand me. "But, you guys are human, remember?"_

_I saw them get very miffed at my abrupt putdown after so high praise. Before things could get ugly, though…_

_The guy stepped forward. "Do you have any malicious intent against this village?"_

_I shrugged. "If I did, I'd have already massacred you guys already." _

_The moment the words left my mouth, I instantly regretted it. They all drew their weapons. The leader, or Vice-Chief, as they called it, raised an eyebrow. "How would you kill the shinobi of this village instantly?"_

_Immediately, I apologized. "Sorry, I was just speaking my mind," I said, hoping to avoid a full-blown conflict of doom. "Now, can I go away now? I won't do anything else, not even come back here, ever again."_

_Maybe that was a white lie. But hey, what could I say? I couldn't blame anyone for my addiction to sweet things, and I so as hell therefore wasn't going to stay away from Mizuho potions. _

_The ninja guys looked like they were considering it. Some looked pretty eager, which I deuced were the hotheaded ones. Well, well. I bet that as soon that I was gone, they'd be throwing a frickin' jamboree. Whoo. Hoo. Yay. Weird person in brown scarf is gone. Scream. Celebrate. Yay. _

_Wait, did they even know what a jamboree was? _

_We would have gotten a settlement. But no, at that moment an SOB came right up to the leader and panted "Vice-Chief! This person… He is… he is the wanted criminal the Ravager!"_

_Damn him, why did SOBs like him have to ruin peaceful, progressive settlements when information like that wasn't even needed?_

* * *

Sorry if you guys are wanting to get going with the mainstory, but I'm stretching this arc into five chapters instead of an originally planned four... 

Kendal: Argh, don't tell I'm going to be-

Me: If you're going to say "Going to be chased by bloodthirsty ninjas" then you are sooooooo correct.

Kendal: (sulks)

Me: Plus...

Sheena: What?

Me: you'll have to confront Corrine in a-

Sheena: CORRINE???

Me: F, spoilers! Gotta go! (runs)

Sheena: (angsty)

Kendal: Err... What?

All: (sweatdrop)


	28. If the story was the game, part 1

**Extras**

Welcome to a chapter that I decided to devote myself entirely to the void of randomness that is my mind.

Kendal: Did you just admit you're insane?

Me: (Doesn't waste any words and mauls)

Kendal: (sulks) Sick SOB…

Anyway, ignoring this, er, person (Kendal: (dirty look)), let's start with this first edition of "If the story was the game"!!

_**Skits**_

I imagined these when I was first developing Kendal's character, so I could let him drop hints about himself.

If only I had been one of the producers… .

**What's with the scarf?**

Lloyd: (surprised expression)…

Kendal: Uh, why the heck are you staring at me?

Lloyd: (normal expression) Well, I was just looking at your scarf, and I was wondering-

Kendal: Just why it's so long?

Lloyd: (surprised expression) How did you know!?

Kendal: (sarcastic face) Well, everybody wants to know that. Basically, it's the first thing they ask about me. I guess you're no different, huh?

Lloyd: No different in what?

Kendal: The order of questions you ask. Lemme guess… now you'll be asking why I'm wanted.

Lloyd: (freaked-out look) What the-

Kendal: (musing look-Arms behind head) Keh… amateurs. Seriously.

**Unothorodox Medicine  
**

Zelos: (suffering expression) Owww…

Kendal: Oh, hello, Chosen.

Zelos: (surprised) Ack! Wh-what the-

Kendal: Chill out already, seriously! I'm on your side, for heaven's sake…

Zelos: (suffering expression) But you sure don't act like it…

Kendal: Oh, yeah… I remember… (evil expression)

Zelos: Hey, what are you- (surprised expression)

Kendal: I'm trying to give you medicine. Literally.

Zelos: …

Kendal: Now… pushing time.

Zelos: (suffering expression, face rattles) Nooooo!!!- Owww…

He was giving Zelly the death stare. Keh heh heh… This one and the one above all take place if you wander the field for a while.

**Reasons for knowing**

Kendal: (tilted head)…

Colette: …

Kendal: …Interesting. So this Cruxis Crystal means…

Genis: (sad expression) …Yeah. She's the Chosen of Sylvarant, and right now, she's lost her-

Kendal: Soul.

Genis: Yup. …Hey… (surprised expression) How did you know that!?

Kendal: I just… know. Well, I do have a reason to know, but I don't think this would be a nice time to tell you. (leaves)

Genis: Hey! Wait up!

Takes place while going to retrieve the Rheairds, as in going up the mountains (Not the field, going up)

**Names**

Kendal: Hmmm…

Lloyd: Uh, mister-

Kendal: It's Kendal.

Lloyd: Oh, now I remember… Uh, Kendal, why are you staring at us?

Kendal: I'm trying to figure out their names without any embarrassment.

Lloyd: Oh… do you-

Kendal: Want to tell me? That would be better than guessing… So, yes.

Lloyd: (surprised) Do you have a habit of knowing what words people are about to say?

Kendal: It's just logic. Pretty much nothing else. So, will you tell?

Lloyd: Alright… (normal expression) That girl with the pink bow on her back's Sheena, the pink-haired girl with the pig tail's Presea, the one with the red hair's-

Kendal: Zelos Wilder. I'd just prefer to call him Zelly, though.

Lloyd: (happy face) Wow! That's the perfect name to call him! How'd you come up with that?

Kendal: Zelos sounds too weird to be a good name, so I came up with another one. Oh, and lemme guess, the blonde over there with the wings… She's Colette, right?

Lloyd: (regretful face) …Yeah…

Takes place directly before you fight Pronyma on the summit of the Fooji mountains (AS in, right before you go tot he part of the summit before Yuan's trap is sprung)

**Not this time**

Lloyd: Uh, Kendal, could I ask you something?

Kendal: What?

Lloyd: Why were you in a trance back up on the mountaintop?

Kendal: Well…

Raine: Yes, I'd believe that you should tell us.

Genis: I mean, Kratos was wincing when he blocked the sword you threw!

Kendal: I'm not sure that you'd trust me enough to believe me.

Raine: Of course we trust you. You saved us, and besides, you're against both Cruxis and the Renegades, aren't you?

Kendal: Well, yeah, but…

Genis : (happy face) C'mon, tell us!

Kendal: No thanks… Oh, come on, are we going to return Presea to the Kate girl or whoever she was or not?

Lloyd: Oh yeah, let's go, guys!

Genis, Lloyd, Raine disappear from screen

Kendal: Sigh… I seriously need to be more open. …But I guess sooner or later, there's going to be a much better time to tell them, I guess….

This takes place going down the mountains, directly after the first fight with Pronyma.

**Me, the teacher?**

Genis: (shocked) Woah!

Kendal: What?

Genis: How'd you do that spell back there?

Kendal: Lemme guess... since you _are_ a magic user, then I'm thinking you want to learn it from me.

Genis: Well, yeah, so can you!? (gleeful face) I'll call you Professor if you teach me!

Kendal: Whaaaat?!?!?! (shocked expression) What the- I- Heck, I can't teach you that!

Genis: How come?

Kendal: They're my own brand of magic, those spells are unique to me! And besides, I swear, I suck at teaching...

Genis: (sulky) Darn. Better try next time. I'll hound him until he does, that can't be his real reason. He must be (enraged) trying to make me weaker than him!

Man, Genis sure is paranoid... This takes place after you've fought the three convicts in the sewers. Oh, and this can only happen if you bothered casting a spell during the fight (See the technique section for details).

**Braver than me!?**

Kendal: Stupid things. They just won't... freaking... get out of the way...

Zelos: (laughing) Ahahahaha! You must scared if you're stuttering!

Kendal: What-? Hey, if you could hear my words clearly and seperately, then I so as hell did NOT stutter!

Zelos: Ahahaha! Don't be in denial. Everybody knows that the great Zelos is the bravest man in the kingdom!

Kendal: (evil look) Hey, look behind you.

Zelos: What is it? Do you want me to sign your autograph or- AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! (shocked face) (leaves screen)

Kendal: Dumb narcissist.

Zelos's narcissism has been a sticking point for my Zelos resentment for as long as I can remember playing Tales of Symphonia. So, I decided to exemplify just how deep it goes. As you can see, this takes place in the Gaoracchia Forest.

**Attitude Problem  
**

Kendal: (enraged face) UGH! DAMN THESE SICKS SONS OF-

Raine: Kendal!

Kendal: (normal face) What?

Raine: That is very offensive language that shouldn't be uttered by anyone.

Kendal: What're you telling me to do, lady?

Raine: (ticked off look) You will not utter anything of that sort to a teacher like me!

Kendal: Says who?

Raine: You should always respect your elders! Unlike your current attitude!

Kendal: You're my elder? Pfft, you don't have any jurisdiction over what somebody does if you can kick them in their ass. And besides, you cannot do to me. Case closed. (exits)

Raine: That... that... that disrespectful young man! He should pay some respect for once! Ohh, that attitude...

This is a little ol' piece of Raine bashing I longed to write, but it seemed that no playable character in the game could openly rebel against thy ebil domination of Raine Sage... (shudders) This takes place as you're aobut to enter Mizuho after you've left the Gaoracchia Forest.

_**Equipment**_

Well hey, everybody has to have equipment, right? This took me hours to invent names for Kendal's equipment, so please don't criticize me for bad names. Pretty please?

Weapon: Diamond Edge (Power- 860, No other extras) An excellent blade with a diamond edge. Heavy, but very sharp. (Note that since Kendal doesn't get a replacement until the very end of this fic, I put the cleaver's power in the high end of the spectrum. Don't hurt me...) Catagory- Cleaver

Head: Brown Headband (Yes, a headband in the beginning hours of the game. Oh my.) (Defense- 28, Intelligence- 15, Accuracy- 5)

Arm: Beorawan(Yes, weird name, but hey, it's ancient elvish. Yes, I'm inventing a language.) Defense- 32, Intelligence- 5

Body: (Hell, this has to be included, otherwise it couldn't be in the game at all, remember?) Splint Mail- (Hey, I couldn't invent _everything_ for him) 34 Defense, no other effects

Accessory 1 and 2: None (Hey, they weren't noted yet, were they? So, I'll hold giving him until later.)

**_Techniques_**

Yes, this is what you have been waiting for- A list of new techs that I invented. Yes, its true- All techs that will be listed are completely new, and they took me hours to invent. Note that at the rundown (see bottom of page) that Kendal is still at a level that where there are yet more techs to learn. So, keep your fingers crossed!

The moves in the center are the low-level moves that have family that extend either to the T or S side. So, this means that the moves which are in the center but also without any "roots" are just moves that are standalone ones. The spells are marked with an exclamation point (!). There's a set of techniques that are related to the spells, also (But are currently unrevealed). Also, the moves that are on either side corrospond to T (to the left) and S (to the right side) and the ones below certain Level 2 moves (The levels are marked) are, of course level 3 moves. Also, I've let Kendal use some moves that are separated by the type barrier, but as an author, its in interest of the reader, remember?

Oh, and remember- Certain moves without any higher leveled cousins will be marked as moves that have cousins that need higher levels to show themselves.

Dominating Blade(Level 1)

Dominating Edge(Level 2)---Dual Dominating Blade (level 2)

Aeroslicer(Level 1) (More techs later)

Damnation(Level 1)

Fury Damnation(Level 2)---Stunning Damnation(Level 2)

Wolf Fang (Level 2)

Wolf Fang Rain(Level 3)---Wolf Fang Pulse(Level 3)

Drop Dragon(Level 2) (More techs later)

Blade Rocket (Level 3, standalone)

Razing Twister(!)

Grave Wave(!)

Aquatic Implosion(!)

Static Spike(!)

**_Current possible Unison Attacks_**

Chilling Rocket (Ice Tornado/Freeze Lancer + Blade Rocket) (Kendal and Genis)

Kendal does a regular Blade Rocket (As in slashes the enemy up in the sky with him, spirals downward rapidly, taking his opponent with him, and lands creating a spiral cutting wind) but finishes it with a spiral pattern of ice spikes that spiral around him and obviously spike the enemy to death (Hopefully).

Static Beast (Any move from the Beast series + Static Spike) (Lloyd and Kendal)

Lloyd does a Hunting Beast, but on the final hit instead of a shockwave a thick circle of spikes that represent the first part of the spell erupts instead. Lightning then strikes the spikes, al la the spell itself, but since the enemy will be hit by at least three of the spikes and sent upwards, the effect of spell is amplified threefold. It doesn't help that the resulting lightning will strike funnel-style like the original spell. Shock times three, people.

Damning Destruction (Kendal and Presea) (Any move from the Destruction family and a move from the Damnation family of the same level)

Kendal does a Damnation that has twenty hits instead of a normal five- There's also lots of rocks blasted up with each slash, amplifying the effect of the weakened (But more numerous) slashes.

_**Titles **_

(This part, I really got writers block concerning this, so there's only two titles now. (mobbed))

Basic: Rouge (He's the one that does have a care in the world. He breaks rules as a habit.)

Other: Hitman (Recieved at level 40) (Whether you like it or not, he can come after you. Or anybody. Preferably who he hates.)

**_Rundown_**

Level: 45

Total number of moves (Includes all moves including possible-to-learn ones): 16

* * *

Sorry if the rundown was disappointingly short. I've had a serious case of writers block lately. Well no, a minor case that caused me to go and write this. (sighs) 


	29. Flashback: Mizuho, part 4

This is the fourth part of this flashback arc. So, without further ado-

Kendal: Let's-

Sheena: Start-

Lloyd: The-

Me: WAIT A MINUTE!

Kendal: What?

Me: That's line theft!

Genis: That is…?

Me: Theft by stealing deliberately the words that are coming from a person's mouth.

Kendal: Not our fault, it's yours.

Me: Because?

Kendal: Well, the law obviously doesn't state that we can nick obvious lines now, can we?

Me: (sulks) Dammit, fine! Then I'll do it my way!

Kendal: What?

Me: From now on, nobody can steal my lines!

Kendal: WHAT??? NOT EVEN THE DAMN OBVIOUS ONES???

Me: Er, duh.

Everyone: (ticked)

_**Reviewer appreciation time**_

killerbunbun: Thanks for all the support you've given me. I haven't gotten around to reading your story yet, but hopefully I'll start soon... (sobs)

DragonofTwilight: I can't believe that you've heaped all the support on me like that. Man, I need to start dedicating some chappies to you... (As welll as certain other people)

Gijinka Renamon: I'm thankful you appreciate just how I decided to formulate "unothorodox" techniques. I was afraid of creating a moveset that contained all-original moves instead of borrowed ones, but hey, you've killed them all. Thanks a hundred times.

* * *

_This so wasn't turning out to be a good day. _

_I was about to saunter out of a village without causing a major, bloody ruckus, and now look, a scrawny looking idiot comes along and kills it. That should be made __**illegal.**_

_Why did I have a sudden urge to hit something? _

_I gave the guy who gave me away my premium death stare- He immediately froze up, just like anyone who had ever encountered my death stare. _

_The other guys, curious to know why one of their member had just stopped in his tracks and was shaking violently. So, one of the braver ones put his head right in front of the already-scared one, and…_

_Well, let's just say he was scared to the point where he… er, let's see… urinated. _

_Oh dear. _

_He fell over, a weird look on his face, given that he put his body in a very unstable angle when he first poked his head in front of the other guy's head. The other guy scampered away before he could feel the brunt of yet another death-stare, so I blinked, then looked back to the… chief guy again. _

_They were all staring at me. Ugh. Why, why, why, just… well, WHY did I have to always be the staring magnet?_

_I gave him a dirty look, which he immediately responded to be dropping his head at a pace so fast that I thought he'd break his neck. Oh well. At the very least, the others got back to drawing their weapons- wait, what?_

_Then I remembered. They knew about my real identity. Now, they were going to attempt to capture me in an attempt to stay on the good side of the royals. _

_I sighed, and then I slowly withdrew my cleaver from its sheath. Time for a fight. _

_The entire village was silent, unless you counted the scampering of children and women. Well some of them. Half of them stayed, half of them left. The half who did stay, they whipped out weird double edged knives that had a ring of metal at the end. The handle was long, and therefore maneuverable, and it looked like it had all the qualities to serve as a multitasking weapon- It seemed light enough, given that they simply just "snapped" into their hands, and it was very aerodynamic from what the design looked like._

_Anyway…._

_I sighed, and began twirling my cleaver in a circle above my head until it was a perfect blur, and that I could see air rippling. _

_I had actually done it slowly, building it up at a gradual pace- I could maybe get it to the speed I was maintaining at a second if I was fast enough, and actually go above the speed I was going at now. This was really three-fourths of the maximum, really. _

_Now, I began to let mana out of my body. Wind mana. In a particular place, my hands._

_Intimately attracted to my motions that served to stir up wind, the mana dissipated around me to begin rising in around me, trapping me in what seemed like a green, hollow cylinder of whirlwinds. _

_All the while I kept twirling, keeping the tornado that I had cultivated still. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_The ninjas looked completely unnerved that a tornado of magic had just been formed right in front of them. It was acting like a barrier, swirling around its headbanded caster like a protective cat prowling around its kittens. The wind licked up both the tails of the headband, which happened to be tied in a knot, some them noticed, as well the huge, cape-like scarf. _

_There was no use in waiting for what their enemy had cultivated to become bigger and therefore more devastating, so in Mizuhogo one of them yelled "Attack!"_

_Immediately, the air around the whirling tornado became thick, dotted with flying kunai and shruiken. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_I saw the people in front of me suddenly make sudden throwing motions, and knew instantly that they were going to attack first. _

_So, I decided to play the role of the defender. Slamming my blade in front of me, abruptly ending my twirling motion, I drew it backwards behind me with both hands, holding my body low to the ground and taunt, ready at any time to just unwind my body and fling my sword in front of me. _

_The dust that was driven up when I had raked my cleaver in the ground was instantly lost in the whirling winds of the cyclone I had created, which was now ready to be unleashed. _

"_Razing…" _

_I stretched my torso to the point where my body was shaking from the strain. _

"_TWISTER!"_

_I slammed my blade forward, putting an intense amount of sheer pressure in both my hands gripping my broadsword and raking my blade into the earth one more time before it flashed upwards, my whole body bending as it stopped, quivering and pointing at a 135 degree angle._

_Meanwhile, the twister moved forward. Slow, to be sure- A person could outrun it if they were going at half of their top speed- with exspheres on, anyway. But that was the main point of this spell- What's the point of a spell if whatever you're sending outward as a projectile is too fast so that you can only score a few hits, like Air Blade or Spiral Flare? Then again, something had to be fast enough so it wouldn't be dodged easily, and had to be big enough to hit multiple people._

_That's where I got the idea to try to develop a spell that combined Cyclone- Perhaps one the best spells ever developed- And to make it movable, fast enough to be able to mow through multiple opponents instead of just having a spell that just stood still while slashing apart anyone caught in its range. _

_Sure, making a modified cyclone spell that moved forward at a moderate pace was one hell of a hard job, but I managed it. Only problem was, how in the world could I cast it fast enough? I couldn't cast normally because it took some twenty seconds to create both the cyclone and force out enough mana to cause it to move forward._

_So, I realized that I needed to find a catalyst to replace the focus I needed to use making the cyclone itself. So, I thought of twirling whatever I was using above my head, which was where the winds of the tornado would be based on. _

_I used to do just that and then mentally force the cyclone to move forward, but that was hell- I still had to exert more mana than usual. So, I thought up of the last part, where I first drew my blade back, going low, and then slashing it upwards double-handed while still keeping my body low. Sure, it looked cool, but the real reason was that doing this was a physical was to force the cyclone forward. Since the razor winds that were visible in a cyclone was really just a representation of wind mana, it meant that the mana was really a hollow cylinder around you. Since I formed my cyclone through a physical motion, I had a connection of mana "strings" whenever I formed the tornado. Which meant that all I had to do at the end was give a good slash in the air like I usually did, I'd snap my mana connection to my sword, and therefore set the cyclone in motion with a physical one. So, in other words, since I was protected by the pre-stationary tornado so I could do the final part of the spell, and that the rate of which the cyclone formed could be as fast as I wanted it to be (As it depended at just how fast I wanted to twirl my blade), it was my favorite spell, and also was much more efficient then any spell. Even a low-ranking one, like Fireball or something. _

_Given that it totally relied on physical motions to form the majority of the spell's components, and that the only concentration parts was when I pushed wind mana through whatever hand that was twirling the cleaver, I'd say that not even the most efficient and most concentrated warlock could equal how fast I could cast this spell. _

_Needless to say, the twister, well…_

_It razed the ground as it slashed through the ranks of the ninja. Hence the name "Razing Twister."_

_I watched with amusement as they… well, just plain scattered. Some of them yelled random, incomprehensible bursts of language as they dodged aside. Some just weren't fast enough- They were just too dumbstruck by the sight of a green tornado mindlessly bearing down on them. And so, the ones that didn't get out of the way (Which was actually hard, considering the size of the twister and also the speed, which was moderate), well…_

_They were gradually listed in the air, being thrashed this way and that as the twister roared past them while the winds did their worst. Blood flew, got caught by the never-ending winds, and ended up spraying the ground in random directions. _

_The twister roared through their ranks, and only stopped when it was well past the village's boundaries. I now noted, as my eyesight had been hindered by the dust that swirled around, that I had fortunately picked to launch the twister down the road that led to the archway the signified the main entrance/exit of Mizuho._

_Well, you couldn't say archway, because my spell had completely ripped it apart. I could still see it, getting slashed to pieces by the cyclone, even as the cyclone faded away, the last vestiges of the slicing winds fluttering skyward before completely disappearing. As for the archway, it was completely thrown out of sight._

_The entire archway. And a very large chunk of the wall, approximately the diameter of a normal cyclone. A tribute to just how big I could make the spell._

_I looked around and noticed a ring of metal weapons, all having at least some ten slash marks. Deep ones, too. I supposed they had been thrown just after I solidified the cyclone, and so that was why they were all around me in a circle. Well, you could always count the ten or so bodies that were lying there, twitching feebly as blood flowed freely. _

_An incomplete one, really, since the tornado had slashed through in front of me, leaving a gaping area of an otherwise perfect circle ripped open completely. _

_I looked around. They were all staring at me again, but this time, it wasn't with a what-the-hell-is-up-with-this-guy look. It was a scared, wary look, one of the few types stares that I relished being under. _

_So I just waited, for them to make another move. _

_Instead of taking the bait, they remained stoic, just standing there. They just wait for me to take their own bait. _

_I took it. Well, actually, no, I didn't. I had already formed a plan of escape- Getting myself marked as an enemy of Mizuho was one the top things on my what-so-as-hell-not-to-do list, so, killing as few people as I could was a top priority. Well, I hadn't killed anybody yet- The victims of my Razing Twister were still alive, to be sure, even if they were near death's door. _

_Even as I watched the others, I saw a few ninjas out of the corner of my eye sneak over to their wounded comrades, and sneak them away in my blind spot. Well, that was covered. _

_So, I charged. _

_One moment, I was standing stock-still, the next, I'm running like hell at them, silently. The silence was part of my code of battle ethics- To me, screaming was NOT allowed. _

_And so, I'm rushing at the thickest knot of battlers silently. They're widening their eyes at the fact that I just made the worst tactical mistake possible- I was rushing at the thickest part of adversaries, and to complicate matters for me, I had nobody who could back me up._

_But since when in hell did I ever need backup, and whoever said I was going to even fight?_

_Instead, I jumped up at the last moment, and used a shoulder as an impromptu springboard. Shooting upwards, and onto a rooftop right next to the knot of enemies of mine. Landing neatly, but being driven to my knees by the impact, as customary, I turned around, and gave them my best evil grin possible. _

_Then, I turned around and just plain ran up the arched rooftop._

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Everyone just stared at the figure of the boy as he receded over the crest of the roof, and disappeared. _

_For a full thirty seconds, a very embarrassing record of the worst type, all of them yelled in fury "__**GO, DAMMIT!" **__and with that, they all took. Some took alternate paths around the chief's house, other took to the streets, and yet more took the path that their target had taken- Right over the rooftop. _

_They all had one goal in common, however the methods they wanted to do it by. They all wanted to catch that kid. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_All I was doing was jumping from rooftop to rooftop. That's all I wanted to do now. Just… jump._

_I easily loped around a tower on a house that was placed at its crest's center with my hands, my body flying around it as I held on for a few seconds before I let go and flew over to the next roof top. _

_During my brief airtime, I spotted some guys below in the streets. They must have been very motivated to catch up to me at my current speed. What did I ever do to them? Damage their pride? Who needed it?_

_Okay, that was closer to the truth than I thought, but…_

_A sneaked a glance back. In the distance, some thirty meters behind me, there were at least ten people pursuing me. But I could see their chests heave as they struggled to maintain the effort of equal/surpass my speed. _

_Even if they did have exspheres. But they were human. I wasn't human or elf. Not even the mix. I something else entirely, and it didn't help that my exsphere was, in a word, ultimate. _

_I heard a whistling, and turned around. A strange star with curved appendages of cold, dark metal was whirling toward me. Without slowing down, I spun around just as I cleared another break between the houses, and snagged the thing in the center where there was an empty area. Without slowing down, I sneaked a glance at it. _

_It had a hole in its center, what I had snatched it out of the air with. The edges were sharp- Well, everything about it was sharp, unless you counted the thick inside ring of metal that was the only blunt part of the weapon._

_In other words, extremely hard to use and even harder to use it expertly with getting at least a few cuts a day. But hell, it seemed useful, I noted giving that the speed at that which it was thrown was as fast as my top speed._

_Besides, the whistling was faint. I wondered if I should buy some of these from Puninja. Hey, it seemed like a nice assassination weapon. _

_Quickly, I caught another of the stars that were thrown. I'd have to inquire about the names of this thing- I'd never seen things like this before, as the closest thing that I had was a chakram. And chakrams so as hell weren't silent. _

_More of the stars. I could only store two of at a time, so I decided to simply dodge them. I dived forward, going low as the stars imbedded themselves a rooftop. _

_Suddenly…_

_A person just… well, burst through the roof of the house I was about to jump on. I didn't stop, already drawing back my left, semi-gloved hand. _

_That's when I picked up the shout of "Serpent Seal Pinion!" _

_A card, whirling on its axis and not even turned on its sharper side, smacked into my chest._

_I hadn't expected a damned card to hurt, even if it was spinning, but when I looked down, I discovered that it was a blue card with a picture of a bird on it. And runes._

_No doubt another form of a spell card._

_Suddenly, I realized that my limbs were beginning to feel sluggish. _

_Still though, when the card had hit my fist was already flying._

_The fist, gauntleted or not, slammed into the jaw of the ninja, promptly went flying._

_I was already looking down at my limbs, wondering what in the world had almost ruined my landing when I saw dark serpents around me. They were already fading away, but now I had the best idea possible about what had almost killed my landing. That card. It was inducing the feeling of sluggishness. _

"_Serpent seal pinion…" I muttered to myself as I swung my right gauntleted hand experimentally. _

_It came as fast as always. So, the feeling of sluggishness that had been screaming at me limbs was really only an illusion. _

_But an effective one. Now, I couldn't run at all, because my limbs just wouldn't stop crying out for rest. _

_Besides, it was now official- The guys behind me were within a second of catching up to me. _

_I knew I had to do something, so, ignoring the feeling of sheer exhaustion that was accompanying the pain in my chest which was fading, I rushed back towards them. _

_Obviously not expecting that, the others immediately attempted to back track in mid-air, but it was too late. I had already jumped, and clotheslined two of the so they flipped in mid air but kept going, low through the air now as they dipped and slammed their backs into the wall of the house I had been on only a second ago._

_The other guy? Well, I slammed into him with a full blown body check that sent him spiraling downwards into the wall of the house adjacent to the one with the two unconscious guys stuck to its wall, hitting the wall with his back in the same fashion that his other two comrades been taken down with. _

_I landed on the house I previously was on. The effect of the Serpent Seal thing was wearing off, telling me that the effects were only temporary. _

_Good. I couldn't bear to feel sluggish an entire day, or maybe the rest of my life. Even imagining it seemed impossible. _

_Without further ado, I took off again. _

_Looking around, I spotted some people hopping in seemingly random patterns. But their purpose was clear- One way, angle, or trajectory or another, they all had the same general direction- Getting to me. And, hopefully catching me alive._

_Like I'd ever do that. _

_I continued my path to one of the walls of Mizuho._

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Given that the intruder to the village could jump roof to roof with ease and dispatch three of their number in midair with seemingly ease, the ninja knew that in order to capture him, they needed to cut off the route to the walls._

_So, some of them went all the way to the walls, armed with katanas. Amazingly, given that their adversary was going at speeds faster than even a shinobi, they managed to make it to parts of the walls. Before their un-helpless prey could get there._

_Well, obviously given that he was distracted, no? _

**VWVWVWVWV**

"_Crap," I muttered wretchedly. _

_In the direction I was head towards, there were about six guys who were holding nasty-looking curved swords. _

_One of them, however, was wielding two swords that crackled with purple electricity. _

_So that was the famous Shiden swords, swords formed by slaying monsters at the Temple of Lightning north of Ozette and then taking the purple quartz they left behind when they were dead. I had a rough idea of just how the swords were forged, but now I knew why Shiden swords were known for their effectiveness, even though most had never seen one. _

_Because they actively showed off their affinity for electrifying opponents, even if I touched it though my cleaver I'd feel a shock. _

"_Careful," I muttered to myself as I quickly turned a sharp ninety and sped off to my right. _

_They followed, of course, making sure that they didn't directly charge at me, but just strafed me, cutting off my escape route. _

_Speaking of strafing… _

_I approached a break in the rooftops. Time to trick them with the power of… I don't know, superior intellect? _

_I quickly dug my heels in just as I was going to take the jump. Not expecting that move, the squad immediately attempted to switch their direction in midair (unsuccessfully) and perfectly ruined their landing on the opposite roof given that there was a very heavy thump heard as I dropped down into the street. Seeing the wall, and my chance to get the hell out of here just a short fifty yards away, I sprinted towards it._

_I reached it, no problem. But, there was one more problem. I saw at least twenty ninjas coming at me from both sides to my left and right in the street I was in. Taking no chances, I whipped out my daggers and scrambled up the wall and an insane pace. _

_Unfortunately…_

_While climbing, I glanced to my left, and instantly regretted it. I saw every ninja in the various stages of throwing, drawing out, or otherwise doing actions that involved using those random metal, deadly stars. I looked to my right. Same there._

_Without missing a beat, I pulled my body into a ball and then shoved my legs off._

_Rocketing off the wall just in time as those stars struck the walls with successive __**thuckthuckthuck **__sounds, I rocketed into the alley I had been in only seconds before. Rolling over my head into a standing position, I jammed my daggers into my belt and just ran._

_Okay, that attempt had been bad. Time to find a new way to get out of here. _

_I saw the ninjas with the swords right in front of my narrow, restrictive path. Turning around in confusion, the guy with the Shiden swords in my path first, I didn't bother with any niceties. I just mowed through them, nicking one of the Shiden blades in the process. _

_Hopping on another rooftop, I turned in a full circle around me, and saw more, more, and more people rushing at me from three sides. _

_**Three **__sides. Not four. And the one exposed side was the side that led to the damn archway. The ruined one. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_One of the ninjas swore with extreme viciousness. In Mizuhogo, of course. _

_There was very good reason for this. Most of them had witnessed the rooftop chase that had led the wall, which happened to now be peppered with shruiken. _

_Now, they were back on the rooftop, attempting to give chase to him, but for all he knew it was useless. There was no stopping him at that speed, and besides, he outstripped them now to the point that nobody had a chance in heaven that a shruiken or kunai could hit him. He was just too fast. _

_And now, he was heading for the archway. The main entrance. That was where there were almost no ninjas there- Nobody had expected him to double back, and certainly no one had expected him to be this skilled._

_He had evaded everything without even drawing out that massive sword on his back. If he could do that, then was there any hope that they could catch him at all?_

_Then, a light bulb went on in his head. _

_The summoner. She could stop him. Even if she could only summon one little kitsune, it was a powerful one. There was no doubt that if that failed…_

* * *

Sorry if I didn't make this action scene bloodier, I promise there will be lots of bashing next chapter. 

Kendal: Wait, bashing?

Me: Yes, the literal bashing. Like "bonk!" and such.

Kendal: Kewl! Can I bash you?

Me: No, you'll bash Corrine.

Kendal: Aww, no fair! Wait... WHAT?!?!?!????

Me: What?

Kendal: I'm going to beat up a cute little fox-thingie!?

Me: Corrine's not cute.

Kendal: 'Cause you're a boy. And, you have no sense of decency.

Me: DECENCY???? (mega mauling)

Kendal: Agh! Sir, have no sense of decency!? Have you no decency, sir!?

Me: WTF! You copied that from the guy who pwned Joe McCarthy!

Kendal: So? You don't, anyway.

Me: (resumes mauling)


	30. Summoners and Foxes

Oh, yay. The 29th Chappie of Grudges is HEAR, PEEPS!

Kendal: After that good ol' diversion, I guess people should be happy that you've gotten back on track, it seems…

Me: Well, you'd better say the disclaimer or…. (cracks knuckles) I'll do it. The-

Genis: -Mauling.

Me: Wait… Oh yeah, WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT THE NO-STEAL-ANY-LINES-FROM-ME RULE?

Sheena: We don't care, and besides, I want to see what happens to Corrine!

Verius: Sheena… Sheena…

Sheena: Corrine! I mean, Verius! (happy happy joy joy)

Me: Uh… Am I supposed to be watching this?

Zelos: Uh… perhaps… Anyway, get on with the story already! Besides, because this is a flashback, so I won't get violent treatment!

Me: (ebil) Think of next chapter, and you'll lose that attitude, mister.

Zelos: NOOOOO WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!!! (runs into wall)

Everyone except the rather high Sheena: _Smaaaaart_.

Kendal: And, ignoring this crossdresser, Screamingedge does not own anything related to Namco or Tales of Symphonia. Thank you.

Oh, and I may have not given an accurate description of Kendal's gauntlet while writing the story- The thing is, think about the gauntlets the Nazgul (From the Lord of the Rings) that has a backhand protector with two ruby eyes, and spiked fins that extend about an inch on the side of the gauntlet, slanted towards whoever's wearing it. In this case, out favorite rouge, Kendal Seycheyll. And his name is pronounced like the Seychelles (The country), but lose the 'es' part of it, and you've got his last name.

* * *

_Run._

_That's all I thought. Just… to run._

_All I really wanted to do sometimes when stressful was to just run. And, considering that I was going through one hell of an amount of stress right now, it seemed like a good idea._

_Maybe not, given that there were bloodthirsty SOBs coming after me… _

_Whizzing. I kept going as those killer metal stars sliced through the air, slamming into the crests of various houses far behind me. Obviously, given that so many of them were being left behind, they were getting desperate at getting to me. _

_In essence, they were doing all they could to slow me down, attempting to give my cuts that were as deep as if you ran a finger on the hard dirt ground. Anything that could possible slow me down. Even if it meant wasting ammo._

_More whizzing. The stars were getting closer, thudding only a few feet away behind me now. They were getting smart and aiming for spots that I had chances of crossing. Ducking low, I quickly dropped down into a side alley and continued in the same direction that I had been going on in the rooftops._

_Another set of ninjas dropping in front of me, brandishing staves of frickin' wood. Without stopping, I turned to my side and bore down on them with the triangular point of my left shoulder. _

_Which, unfortunately for them, was covered with a conveniently placed metal guard._

_I slammed into them all, barreling over them in the same manner that I had with the last set of ninjas that had tried to stop me from rushing through the alleys._

_I suddenly burst into a street. I leaped up onto the roof, narrowly missing being the suspect of a manslaughter case that involved three ladies being trampled on. That would have been horrible, and it seemed that I had induced a very large amount of indignation given the sounds of Mizuhogo swear words being uttered at high-pitched tones. _

_That was lost to the wind, though. Oh well. I didn't have the time to listen to the angry rantings of killer girls. Indignant ones. _

_Finally, I heard the __**thwak**__ings of long range weapon stop which had resumed the moment that I had hopped onto the roofs. Before that, I had batted the ones which had gotten too close for comfort with the Shiden blade I had stolen. Incredibly, I hadn't suffered a blood injury at all. Thinking about it just bogged me down, but I had no time- I had to go.  
_

_Finally, after another antagonizing thirty seconds (Or was it less, since it looked all in slow motion?) I dropped down to continue my run out of the arch way, and-_

_I cursed under my breath. They had been waiting for me. Ten people wielding various swords and other types of weapons that I had never seen in the course of my millennia-long life were being brandished as they began edging closer to me, as I had stopped abruptly. _

_I decided to just get out of here, so I made a motion to my right. _

_Immediately, another set of three guys jumped out from an alley, throwing those metal stars while they were at it and screaming. _

_The stars didn't even come close to hitting me, so I didn't care to flinch. I made a motion to my left. As expected, another three jumped out. Same act, no need to dodge. _

"_Ugh," I muttered to myself. I'd have to fight my way out of here, before the rest of those guys caught up with me and started the usual mobbing. Then, I'd have to get lethal to the extreme. So, before any of them could even blink, I had rammed into one of them with my shoulder. Sent sprawling, he didn't get up._

_Immediately, the others began encircling me. I didn't plan for their little formation to be completed under my watch, though- I rushed one of them. Immediately raising the two sticks-connected-by-a-chain thing he was wielding, he forgot one thing._

_To loosen up his legs. I ducked low and slid at the last moment, catching his stiff legs in a cloud of dust. With a loud __**SNAP**__ and a loud howl of pain to emphasize that I wasn't about to wait for them to do their masterpiece formations, they gave up and just plain attacked. _

_To make things more detailed- They rushed me, screaming, brandishing their weapons. Physiological warfare, it looked like. _

_I whipped out my cleaver. Abruptly, their catcalls were cut off as they sudden realized just what I was holding in my right hand- A massive sword that could cut through any of them, even if I did as little as to drop it on their heads. Well, considering that scenario, it would drop down to the guy's midriff to say the most, but hey, the guy would have been already dead._

_I easily blocked an oncoming trio of blades and swung my cleaver over to my right, causing them to yelp out loud as their swords were ripped from their hands with a simple twist of the wrist. _

_Two of them quickly strafed me, swinging their chain-attached sticks at dangerous velocities. Dangerous if you had no weapon, to say the least. I casually jabbed both of my blades into the range of their things- Immediately, the chain was snagged and I was easily able to jerk them backwards so that they soared right in front of me and bashed heads, classic style._

_The other remaining eleven were struck dumb by this seemingly effortless humiliation, just standing there open-mouthed. I walked over and actually whacked them all on the head with both of my blades, drumming-style. I actually was taller than some of them, with my 5 foot 11", so it was easy. They fell like drunken giants. _

_Then I heard it._

"_I summon…"_

_Wait, did somebody just say that? I whirled around. There was nothing but-_

_The girl that I had rescued from those bullies. Her eyes were closed, and she was mumbling something. And, apparently…_

_She was summoning. Something, I had no idea. What could it be? It definitely couldn't be Origin or Maxwell- Origin was under Mithos Yggdrasil's and Kratos's seal, and nobody knew where Maxwell was. So…_

_Why did the runes that were forming under her were whitish-gray?_

_Then I remembered hearing news back in Meltokio, a few years back. Something about a Summon Spirit. A manmade one._

_My eyes widened. Could that manmade Summon Spirit have- _

_The girl opened here eyes, and shouted, "Let's go, Corrine!" _

_I looked above me. I just did. I was pretty damn lucky to have, anyway- A fox thing with loads of blue tails was falling down on me from the middle of nowhere. Was this the manmade Summon Spirit? If so, why did they have to make this thing so damned cute?_

_I quickly raised my blades in a cross, inviting it to come down and be hacked into four perfectly proportioned pieces. _

_The things, though, had other plans. When it came close enough, I slashed, but instead of slashing through flesh I slashed through midair- Well, actually, no, not midair. The fox had grasped the Shiden blade with its teeth and was holding on as I brought it near me, ignoring the shock. _

_I realized that if I kept up this motion, I'd bring the edge close enough for this thing to slam me without risking being cut again by the Shiden. Without further ado, when it was only three-fourths of the way to where it could leap at me safely, I threw it with a deft downward motion._

_I would have been ashamed of the motion of the Shiden if it was a different time, but now, I was positively yelling with joy as the blade whirled but never stopped moving forward. The tip of the sword sliced into on of the two wood spires that happened to so be conveniently placed there, and was buried completely up to its hilt. _

_I would have whooped jubilantly if there was blood on the wood- There wasn't. That's when I felt a brutal pain in my left side. Without looking, and knowing that because I had focused too much on the trajectory of the sword, I had ignored other factors, I jumped to my left, but not before I swung my left foot to the side._

_In this case, the foot would have swung upwards, given that I was flying almost parallel to the ground. That's what happened- With a __**thwack**__ the side of my foot collided with something like an arm. The resulting female cry confirmed that._

_I did a cartwheel in midair, and landed, already scanning the area around me. The girl, well, that we they one who I had kicked, who was now treating the bruise on her right arm with an apple gel._

_That when I saw that damned fox again. Seeing it flying towards me, fresh from a jump from a rooftop, I slashed the air with the flat on my cleaver. Because, as the fox was a living thing, as it couldn't conjure any sort of elemental projectiles and attacks, could very easily die if stuck with a strong or sharp enough force._

_I had both. _

_So, I just used the flat of the broadsword to strike it. It hit home and sent the fox flying, but not before it lightly landed with a quick midair back flip. All before I had let out a sigh of relief. _

"_Crap." _

_It launched towards me again. This time, I had no way of defending myself fast enough with my cleaver, which was behind me. Sure I was a master of such weapons and could wield them at insane speeds, but that fox, well…_

_It was going at me at in even more insane speed._

_I switched the grip of my blade to my left hand, while I drew back my right, gauntleted fist. _

_Expecting that, the fox flipped at the last moment to bring up a tail, thick ones, I observed. They collided with my launched fist, sending the fox into a crazy spin into my midriff. However, by then, my left hand had brought up my cleaver- I used it as a barrier across my chest as the Summon Spirit collided with a solid __**thunk**__ against my blade. _

_Then, I suddenly saw a head poke upwards, and I instantly knew why- The sound of a collision was from the body slamming into the blade, but now it had bitten into the seconds edge. Not bothering with the fact that the diamond edge was cutting to its mouth, it launched into a headbutt at my chest bone._

"_This is gonna hurt," I mumbled._

_The head of that thing, although small, had achieved a velocity that sent a huge pain to my solar plexus that I staggered backwards, hissing obscene curse words as the fox bounced off. _

_Again, it leaped at me. I had no way of defending myself now, but the most I could do was shielded my chest bone from further harm the Summon Spirit could bring, so I put my gauntleted hand against my chest. The fox slammed into it and latched on the one of the many spiky protrusions that a gauntlet shaped like a dragon's head could have- Something I couldn't avoid, since I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away, it was like it was mentally commanding me to wear it. Oh well._

_That aside, the fox leaped upwards, slamming a tail against my jaw before bouncing off. Rubbing my chin with the hand that was holding my cleaver, I slashed out again with the flat of the blade- Still, I didn't want to kill it or give it a fatal wound._

_It missed, as the fox had already leaped. Managing to free my right hand again, I slashed it upwards, neatly catching the fox on the chin with an elegant metallic uppercut. _

_The fox, sent flying, landing in the arms of the girl, who had been coming at me with cards. She quickly rubbed another apple gel on that cursed thing, which promptly got up and began rushing me again. _

_I didn't bother blocking- I just side-stepped it. There was no point in blocking something if it has a fifty-fifty chance of giving you the whack. _

_Instead, I kicked at it as it passed by me, almost casually. The boot connected, sending it whirling haphazardly through the air, stopping only when it slammed into the ground. _

"_Corrine!"_

_I winced as I heard the shout. I was kicking around (Literally) a personal Summon Spirit of that rather depressed girl, and to makes matters worse, I had befriended her. Maybe I should just leave now. _

_As I began turning around to go, the fox leaped up, snarling. Groaning, I turned around. Why wouldn't this thing leave me alone?_

_It leaped at me again, fangs bared. _

_Wait, fangs?_

_That's when the idea hit me. _

_I kept my eyes on the rapidly approaching form of the Summon Spirit as I whipped my right hand up and tilted my palm back so that a small slit showed of my wrist. _

_I brought it to my front and prayed that the thing would take the bait._

_It took it. Latching on the bottom edge of the opening in my gauntlet with its teeth, it began thrashing around, trying and failing to open up my gauntlet and feast on my flesh inside it. Like that'd ever happen- The gauntlet was partly forged by adamant, so what would a bite do to ruin its hardness? _

_I focused some of my mana into my wrist. Immediately, my exsphere, embedded right in there alongside my artery, began twitching._

_Immediately, the exsphere in there flared with light, blasting out of the wrist slit. And, right into the Summon Spirit- Corrine's- eyes. Even if the pupils weren't visible._

_The fox dropped down, squealing in pain. That's right, squealing. Another thing to add about why the thing was so damned cute. Rolling around, and clawing at its eyes, it was helpless- I could casually stab and cut it in two. It was that small._

_Instead, I sheathed my sword, after passing it to my right hand first, and walked over to the girl, who was now the only thing left that could prevent me from going out of this cursed village._

_I was about to give her the Spell... Card, or whatever those killer cards were called, but she immediately raised two of her own. "D-don't move!" She commanded in a quivering voice._

_Yep, definitely another person who thought they could stop me._

_I sighed, then fished though my pockets and found the card I was looking for. Handing it too her, I said "Just treat this as a little memento from a weird guy."_

_She took it, but not without staring me with eyes that had a roundness to rival the moon. _

_I was about to say something, expatriated to get her to stop staring at me, but alas, that wasn't to be. I heard the thumping of… people rushing on rooftops. No doubt the ninja guys. _

"_Sorry about this," I hissed, and unceremoniously threw her down, and then whipped out a dagger to her throat._

_Right when the others arrived. _

_I heard some of them yell "ATTACK!" and suddenly, the air was filled with sounds of shruiken whistling, thumps from ninjas dropping down to the ground for melee combat, and war cries. _

_I turned around and saw a cloud of shruiken fly at me. _

"_Ironside!" I yelled, knowing that if I leaped, I'd be sentencing this girl to instant, bloody death, and if I alternatively carried her off, they'd expel her from this little hellhole. So, I just pretended I had panicked and used a defensive technique. _

_So, I threw up my hands in a cross in front of me, and I'm hearing __**bink, bink, bink**__ as the stars bounce off me and my transparent green shield.. _

_Once the whistling had stopped, I lowered my hands and in effect turned off the barrier. I turned around after surveying the people that I didn't have to bother anyway more to the girl, and winked._

_I was gone in five seconds flat._

_That was the last I saw of the village for three months, until I came back. Puninja was sitting, already waiting to replenish my depleted supply of Mizuho potion. And yes, I did rant about it. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

_The girl stared at the sky, flying down after she had blanked out from the wink. _

"_Are you hurt, Sheena-chan!?" An anxious voice cried._

_She looked up dizzily. She saw Orochi, one of the victims' children from the incident with volt, grabbing her hand and hoisting her up._

_One of those who hated her, and now, he was offering his hand to her. Well, not really- He actually hoisted her up. But she was grateful for both this and the stranger who had somehow invigorated kindness to her in the hearts of these people. They might be back to hating her tomorrow, but now, she basked in their kindness. _

"_Y-yes, Orochi-san," she said, dusting herself off and standing up. _

_But not before she took a last look at the card before storing that and her own, unblemished and therefore lethal cards (unlike the written-on one) in two separate tight pockets on the back of her kimono. _

_She would try to understand later. For now, she would bask in their newfound kindness. Even if it did last a day._

* * *

Sheena: Sniff… sniff… you… mean… person… 

Me: Who, me or him? (jabs finger at Kendal)

Kendal: Idiot, she means YOU! (jabs finger at me) You made me do it…

Sheena: You… mean… people… (sobs)

Me/Kendal: (sweatdrop)

Genis: We didn't do anything, grill them already.

Sheena: (jumps up) KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!

Me: WAIT A MINUTE!

Sheena and clones: What?

Me: THIS IS NOT A NARUTO FIC, THIS IS A ToS FIC!

Sheena: Oh yeah… DEMON SEAL!!!!!! (times that by a bazillion times, and you get the idea)

Me/Kendal: (pwned)


	31. Raine getting freaky

Oh dearsy. I've just realized now that this story is going to be sure as hell damned _**epic. **_

Kendal: Well, duh, the summary said so, didn't they?

Me: Yeah, but look at just how much every chapter is! I mean, 3k words per chapter!?!?!?!?

Kendal: Oh yeah… I forgot you've got an obsessive streak.

Me: I'm _obsessive_?

Kendal: Well duh, look at how you hate short chapters! You just want to blow away the word count!

Me: I do not! I just want the attention!

Kendal: Ah-ha, you admit you are a narcissist!

Me: O RLY?

Kendal: YA RLY!

Me: O RLY RLY?

Kendal: YA RLY RLY!

Me: (violent mauling)

Genis: (sweatdrop) Uh, screamingedge does not own anything related to Tales of Symphonia. STOP THIS RIGHT NOW OR I'LL INDIGNATIONIZE YOUR ASSES!

* * *

I blinked. That what I did. I just... blinked. 

Tiga was in front of me, with a weird look on his face.

"What?" I asked, slightly unnerved by the look. normally, I'd just ask him to stop staring, but I knew that right now, he actually had a good reason.

At the mention of the word "Mizuho," nobody justs blanks out like that, standing even. That's just plain weird. And quite deserving of such looks.

Even though i was the weirdest on of them all, even...

I sighed. "Okay, yeah, I do remember." Then, I looked at him hard. Like, whenever when a regular guy squints at you. But I didn't ever squint. I packed the essence of the look in one rock-hard gaze.

He returned it. "Did any of the others see you?"

I shook my head, knowing well the he meant the ones who had attempted to confront me all those years ago. "They're still there? All I talked to was Puninja."

"For your regular refreshments of your favorite Mizuho potion?"

"Bingo." Normally, I'd be shocked, but he didn't seem to be an enemy years ago and he so as hell didn't seem like an enemy now.

"For the refreshment-"

"Of my rather obsessive sweet tooth, yeah. Did he tell you about the rants?"

We stared at each other for one second, and then we both just plain laughed. Just like that.

When the fits died down for both of us, I said "Do I have to tell her? I don't even know if she kept that card I gave her."

Tiga smiled. "I kept it for her. Because of that, she does not remember it very often. Here." He walked open to a cupboard, and pulled out the old Spell Card.

The ink of my ancient elvish name was still glistening brightly. It hadn't been touched in years, it seemed.

I had to clench moth of my hands from shaking- The card was right there, the only relic (Besides the cleaned up ruins of the original archway that I had ripped up) that I had ever been in Mizuho all those years ago.

"Take it."

I took it. Then, I nodded at him, and as he returned the nod, I began walking out the door.

** VWVWVWVWV**

"What's Kendal doing in there?" Lloyd complained as he kicked at the ground impatiently.

Raine shrugged. "Whatever if going on in there is his business, and I'm not keen to delve into it."

Obviously, she was still smarting from the comment on her "Ruin-mode" only a few hours ago.

Zelos, however, snorted. "I definitley know what he's up to."

"What?" Lloyd asked, oblivious to the fact that the others were snorting as well.

"He's doing a loyalty check, trying to make sure Tiga's on our side." The Chosen grinned viciously. "He's going to slit a few tendons if Tiga refuses to bow down to us, and-"

He stopped immediately, because the rouge in question had just walked out of the door.

**VWVWVWVWV **

I had already stowed away the card as I pushed the sliding door of the house open.

The other were waiting for me, talking together. The turned at the sound of the sliding of the door, faces expectant. Especially Sheena's.

I couldn't help but wince at her face, which now seemed so obviously familiar as the girl who had once been bullied on to the point of sobbing incoherent apologies. That was a long time ago, it seemed, and that personality seemed to have vanished, to be replaced by a tough, brave personality which seemed to break down easily. Very. Tough, it seemed, but brittle.

I just shrugged at the unspoken question on their faces. "Private stuff, " I said, trying to stave off the torrent of questions that I definitely wasn't prepared for now.

With humphs, they turned away, meaning that whenever I said "private stuff" it meant "You'd be idiots to bother, so stop spewing the shit and just carry on."

I guess such things are very inappropriate...

"Geez," I muttered under my breath. Then...

I noticed the prisoner. The guy with he shackles. He was off to the side, kneeling down to examine the stream that formed a sort of moat around the Chief's house. It was a crystal clear moat, to be sure, so...

I flicked my head to the side- That got Raine, the ever watchful one's attention. I flicked my head head at the convict now, and she caught on immediately.

After a few whispers to Lloyd, we walked over to him. "What's your name?" Lloyd asked.

After a pause, he said a brutally short simple "Regal."

Lloyd took it up immediately, even though the convict- Regal seemed rather anti-social at the moment. "Regal, huh? I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to keep you prisoner for a bit longer."

They seemed nice words from to a guy who had knocked the lights out of the person speaking the words.

Amazing. This guy really was an idealist.

That's when Zelos, always the opportunist, spoke up. "Hey Lloyd, why not let Pops here fight alongside us?"

Genis spoke with venom "Even though he might betray us?"

"He has business with Presea, right?" Zelos said dismissively. "Then, he's not going to try anything before he gets the chance to speak to her, you know?"

"I'd say that's not a bad idea, actually," Raine said, a note of surprise in her voice.

"Raine!" Genis said, shocked.

"I dunno about this," Sheena spoke up. It seemed that everyone was ganging up on the poor little half-elf. Well, I actually would, given that Genis was attempting to curb the favor of an unresponsive girl that just didn't bother. Sheena continued"- But I won't make a fuss. Remember that I started off as your enemy?"

Lloyd, after a moment's consideration, turned sharply to Regal. "Well? Will you fight alongside us for now?"

"Alright," regal said in a candid voice. "I swear upon my good name, and these shackles that bind me, that I will not betray you."

"If you even try one funny thing," Genis said in a venomous tone, "I'll burn you to a crisp. You got that?"

"Wow," I muttered snidely into his ear, "So you'd burn your own sister to hell if she tried that?

He turned bright red. "Sh-shut up!"

Mission accomplished. Arrogant guy humbled, new ally, and nobody attempts to try to find out why I spent so long with Tiga.

A few minutes of walking to the exit, I suddenly realized what was going on- Lloyd was leading us back to the worst place you could possibly be in at night, which was now, and he was leading us there? Why wasn't the others from Tethe'Alla saying anything?

That's when Lloyd somehow stopped us from going into hell by saying a stupid sounding "Hey, is there any better weapons around?"

I sighed. "Duh." Then I pointed to Puninja, who was somehow right by us. "What me to show you?"

I walked over, and hissed quickly "Act like you don't know me" to him, who acknowledged it with a quick nod.

"Good day, sirs." He said politely. "Welcome to the variety shop Toyama, where we also offer customization services."

Lloyd's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Did you say... customization?" He looked around. "Where's the weapons?"

Was our leader not only an idiot but a weapons freak as well? Any moment now, when Puninja pulled out the Shiden blades, I expected Lloyd to kiss the electrifying metal.

That would be the best thing I ever saw since... I don't know.

Meanwhile, Lloyd had just handed over an old copy of Ogre swords that he somehow carried, along with a metal sphere and some fragments of black silver. "It'll take until tomorrow to finish this set of Shiden blades." Ignoring protests from Lloyd, he asked smoothly "Would you like other items to be customized?"

"Like, Shruiken for example," I cut in. Without asking for Colette's permission, I plucked the set of Air Thrust chakrams she carried and stacked on the stand. Along with another set of a metal sphere and fragments of black silver.

He nodded crisply, without making eye contact, and said "This will be ready for use by tomorrow."

With that, he walked away to a house which was some kind of forge, given the clanging sounds heard.

Sheena rounded on me. "How did you know the name of the shruiken?" She demanded.

I shrugged, attempting to sound unconcerned. "I asked for it before we went into the meeting with Tiga."

That was really a white lie- I had asked the names immediately when I came back to Mizuho to pick up another stock of Mizuho potions for the first time. by then, I had killed another influential leader of the Church of Martel using the shruiken- It was clumsy using them, though, so I didn't bother buying some more along with the Mizuho potion.

Sheena looked at me doubtfully, but she nodded at last. Then, she turned away to talk to some other people walking around, no doubt to find a place to sleep for tonight- Lloyd would never ditch his weapons, and besides, we were dead meat if we wandered back to the Gaoracchia forest now.

I jammed my finger in my ears to avoid having to listen to Lloyd's rants about how we were delayed (Necessary evil). Yeah, right.

_**Next morning **_

The night passed uneventfully, with me waking up first, far before even the owner of the house had woken, and quietly slid the door open before walking into the gray-red skies.

Walking into Puninja's stand, I saw him, rubbing his eyes furiously. Apparently, he had stayed up all night.

I raised an eyebrow. "You know you're going to be looking horrible tomorrow?"

He rubbed his eyes again, and said in a slightly muffled voice "Any for the extra gald."

Obviously, this was an extension of the agreement settled a decade back, but I wasn't going to complain. I had more money than a regular person could spend their entire lifetime, buried in various places or hidden in cleverly concealed nooks and crannies all over the two worlds.

It helped that both worlds used the same currency.

He pulled something under the stand and placed the crackling Shiden blades on the counter, along with the sleek, dangerous-looking shruiken. Larger, but no less lethal than the ones that had been thrown at me from a decade ago.

I tilted my head, examining the weapons from their finishes, then picked up the Shiden.

It rested neatly there in my hand, which was about the same size as Lloyd's. I took a few experimental swings-Just to make sure there wasn't any balance flaws. Hey, weren't we all human? What prevented us from making flaws in design?

There weren't any issues there, so I put them in the sheaths that were also on the vendor stand, and picked up the set of ten oversized shruiken.

Given that they traveled in insanely long trajectories for small things, I knew that something had to be augmented to make this a variant of a chakram. So, I hooked the inside ring with m left hand (Hey, a millennium of living sure can make you ambidextrous, eh?) and threw one of them experimentally.

The chakram-sized weapon stayed true to its original roots, going in a straight path. Just when I concluded that this was pretty much useless as chakram as they apparently didn't return to the owner, I wasn't prepared to see the shruiken turn a sharp almost-ninety.

_Almost._

I almost forgot to catch it- What I sight that would be, me looking down blankly at a great big metallic star that was embedded in my side. Oh the horror. Bloodfest. Call the medics. Oh no.

Well, I didn't, and that made all the difference, because that saved me loads of both pain and embarrassment. Snagging it by the thick ring in the center, I nodded at Puninja, a signal that I was satisfied, and was returned a nod of his own before I turned and walked back to the house where Sheena had arranged for us to stay in.

I was satisfied that at least one person was up now- Raine was there, apparently running around as quietly as possible and attempting to huggle the wall. I watched with incredulous amusement as she ran around like a maniac, trying to at least get a single sample before we were fated to leave this village and head to Altessa's place.

So, I watched as Raine's eyes were basically perfect spheres by this point, grabbing vases, touching the walls in a very... intricate manner, and even sniffing a wardrobe that was left open last night.

Finally, I couldn't take it any more of it. I burst out into laughter, rollicking around in laughter fit only for a maniac (Which Raine happened to be, from what I had seen) while rolling around on the floor.

"GAAAAHHH!!! WHAT IS IT!? ARE WE UNDER ATTACK!?"

I'm going to bet that you know what happened next.

**VWVWVWVWV **

Raine "hmph"ed as she walked quickly to the center of the village, to meet up with the others after they were finished doing business, whatever it was (Kendal, mysterious as ever, was doing something just as mysterious as himself, she supposed, and Zelos... well, it was obvious).

Her business? That was attempting to revive some of her old pride, which Kendal had destroyed with one fell swoop just by being at the right place at the wrong time. Wrong time for her, anyway, given that she had just woken up and was eager to take all samples possible before they left.

No doubt about it, the others were following her (Except Zelos, of course) in an attempt to see what Kendal had been reduced to tears about.

That's when she caught sight of a rather battered, but majestic fountain.

Her eyes sparkled dangerously. Oh, how she would love to studie this fountain, to run her fingers over the old stone, which would also be an indicator of the area's surrounding bedrock, and what would also be an important indication of Mizuhoan culture!

She was about to rush forward, her fingers already twitching with excitement, when she caught herself. What if the others were watching, what if the others were looking at her now? What if they came stumbling to where she was now, and saw her fingering the fountain like... like...

She shuddered. Should she put off such until later...? Who knew, Kendal just might be watching even now. Raine cursed him.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Right she was about me- I was on the rooftops, leering gleefully on the unsuspecting half-elf, who had an inkling of what I was doing.

I observed as the maniacal archeologist looked around nervously, before running to the fountain, and beginning to run her hands over it. She hugged it (Not touching it with anything but her hands, I noted, as to not get herself dripping wet), and did everything that she did the the wardrobe. And the wall. And the vase. And her face...

You'd not want to see it, but let's just say that only insane people who had similar... _interests_ with this half-elf should be wearing that face. So, if that was the case, was she insane?

Anyway, I signalled Lloyd, who was in a separate alley- I had decided to statisfy his curiosity toward his professor's extent of being a maniac, so I had brought him along.

He walked out, and witnessed Raine doing her worst- doing THE sniff.

He just dropped to the ground, like he had been a puppet who had its strings cut, and laughed like there was no limit to just how loud or just how hard a person could laugh. He rolled, he sometimes screamed, and always had tear streaming down his cheeks.

"Mission acomplished," I muttered, and rushed away from the crime scene as the first of several yowls of pain were heard.

* * *

Raine: WHERE'S THE AUTHOR??? 

Me: Hi! What's up?

Kendal: You maybe shouldn't have said that...

Me: What's going on?

Raine: I AM NOT THIS OBSESSED!

Me: Yes you are, my dear hysteric school teacher. Besides...

Raine: BESIDES WHAT, YOU F!# B$#???**  
**

Me: I've got all your times of obsession on tape. Remember the Triet Ruins?

Kratos: Ah yes, that was... amusing.

Me: You've got that right Kratty-kun-

Kratos: Do not call me by that!

Me: I'm the author, y'know. Anyway, I've got that all on tape, and since I'm the author, I can go back in time to show the peeps at Sybak when they were chasing Viginia and co. and show them this, and then they'll lock you the psyco ward for sure!

Raine: NOOO! I BEG YOU R FORGIVENESS! NOOO! MY BRAIN BURNS! AHHHH!!! NOOO, MOTHER! HAAAAALLLP!!!! (faints)

Everyone: ... (sweatdrop)

Genis: You... really... have it on tape?

Me: Nah, it's just a bluff. 'Sides, she's a sticker to being called psyco.

Genis: INDIGNATION JUDGEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: (pwned)


	32. God of techniques, I think

Yay, the thirty second chapter! Most likely this is going to stretch into a hundred of them…

Kendal: Damn, a HUNDRED???

Genis: Since when was a story that long!? Besides-

Kendal: This damned story already has some 80,000 words!

Raine: And it's only thirty two chapters long. Are you psycho or something?

Me: (holds up videocorder) Did you say something something?

Raine: (gasp) NUUUUU!!! DON'T SHOW THEM THE VIDEO TAPE, DON'T! PLEASE!!!1!!1!!!!1!!!

Me: Well, okay, if you… HUGGLE ZELOS AND FISH KISS HIM! ON THE LIPS!

Raine: WHAT???

Genis: YOU ARE NOT GOING TO COMMAND MY SISTER TO DO THAT!

Me: (opens time portal) Then I'll just go and-

Raine: NUUUU!!! OKAY, I'LL DO IT! (runs up to Zelos and does a fish kiss on the lips)

Zelos: MY HUNNIE! (kisses her to death)

Genis: (faints)

Lloyd: Wasn't that… extreme?

Me: Hey, I guess that's what she needs- Some therapy for her god complex.

* * *

I joined the others at the center of town, successfully keeping a straight face as I walked towards them. It helped to create an illusion, given that I was also fingering the Manji Seal that I had brought from Puninja again. 

Lloyd was busy slashing around his Shiden blades, which he had neglected to thank me for getting them, and almost decapitated Colette, who, of course, being the ditz (In my mind, anyway) that she was, didn't notice. Instead, she was busy mobbing our very own convict, Regal, over some extra helpings of breakfast. Leftovers, of course.

I shook my head while I cradled it at the same time. Why did the world have to spiral down to this level of damning mayhem? Why?

"Stop trying to kill your own comrades," I growled. Immediately, Lloyd stopped, having a very sheepish look on his face.

"Sorry," he said guiltily, "I just wanted-"

"-To get used to them? Save it for when you can kill somebody else besides us, will you?"

I instantly knew I had gone too far. Lloyd immediately snapped "How am I supposed to use a sword that I have no idea how to use at all!?"

I never backed down from verbal duels, and I wasn't going to now. "At least save it for when we're far, far away from you, or is that too hard? Too scared cuz you've got nobody to back you up?"

Hurt, Lloyd drew back. "I'm… I'm… I'm not scared," He mumbled.

I sighed. Why did social relations have to be my worst point? I turned and walked over to a tree where I leaned back against it. Hey, anything to pass the time. Even if it was all stuck in my head, as I began imagining- Well, random things. Like, for example, a rather disturbing mental picture of Raine spanking Genis.

Raine finally pulled into the group, sulking and periodically shooting dirty looks. Well, looks like such things such as seeing her go freaky really wasn't on the let-go-easily list of things, eh?

"So, we go now?" I asked finally.

They simultaneously nodded, and we headed to the archway. The not-so-ruined-archway now. They must have repaired it directly after my little trip there.

As we were about to leave, Orochi came up to us. "It seems that your pursuers have left the forest. You should hurry."

"Alright," Lloyd said brightly, "Let's head to Altessa's place right away!"

"I… want to go home."

I raised an eyebrow at Presea, who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that everyone was looking rather amazed- For the first time in the last ten hours (Counting when we slept) she had actually said something.

"Alright," Raine said slightly grudgingly, "Ozette first."

**VWVWVWVWV**

Going back was easy.

For one thing, we didn't have to cross an entire forest- We only had to cross a tenth of it, even if it _was _the infamous Forest of Death.

Hopefully, we would, providing we didn't have to follow Lloyd. To me, he had no sense of direction from what I could see, so I placed myself directly behind him, ready to grab him at any moment if a situation arose and such a situation made Lloyd run off back into the hellhole.

We entered the boundary between the sunlight and where the forest began. Immediately, as if somebody had jammed earplugs in my ears, the birdcalls were silenced instantly. Only like a faint, reverberating echo that only existed in the memories of one second ago.

We walked on in silence, until we ran into an undertaker.

It was simply shuffling around, weighted down by the load of the coffin on its back, which was wiggling even now. Lloyd immediately drew his Shiden swords, which started crackling with electricity. The undertaker stiffened, and began walking toward us, even though we were hidden by a wall of plants. I had no doubt it could easily slash though the wall without any light, given that one of its many attacks involved a big-ass sword slice.

Cursing, I ripped the Shiden blades out of Lloyd's hand and jammed them in their sheaths roughly. The sounds were blocked immediately, returning silence to the forest. But the undertaker kept on walking.

Suddenly receiving an idea…

I quickly hissed in Lloyd's ear "Do one of your Beast moves, and then let me handle the rest."

Nodding, he edged closer to the hole in the wall which hadn't been completely repaired, though it looked quite a bit smaller then when I had blasted it open. I edged closer as well.

At a motion of my head, we both started screaming and jumped through the hole, me with significantly more grace than Lloyd.

"Raging Beast!" Lloyd shouted, as the undertaker, stunned by the sounds of our yells stood there confused. Quickly landing two cuts while whirling around, Lloyd unleashed a huge blue head of a lion. Just like the dragon's head that I could create as well. It blasted the undertaker backed, all while it screeched in its rather unnatural voice.

"Static Spike!" I yelled, slashing both my palms-up hands upwards. Immediately, a huge spike of crackling metal blasted upwards, sending the undertaker flying. The monster, slammed senseless, didn't notice that the air was audibly cracking now.

I brought both my hands (And as a side effect of the motion, my entire body down to a squat) which triggered a funnel-shaped spiral of lightning downwards.

_KZZZAAAAKKKK._

Instantly struck by the funnel, it was buffeted around in mid-air for a few seconds as the lightning did its worst, all while Lloyd immediately run up to it and the crackling spike of metal disappeared.

We looked at each other- He had finally realized what I was doing. In unison…

We both yelled "STATIC BEAST!" as Lloyd slammed into the coffin-wearing monster, fired a burst of mana upwards, and landed on the ground with _oomph_ sword first.

Immediately, a thick circle of spikes erupted around the swordsman, getting the undertaker impaled on three of them at the same time.

I brought my hands down again.

_KKKKZZZZZZAAAAAAAAKKKKKKK. _

The undertaker was instantly obliterated by the multiple funnels of lightning that came down on the spikes. It was reduced to ash instantly.

The others came running. "What was that!?" Genis practically shouted in excitement, as he jumped up and down.

"That was so cool, that circle of spikes…" Sheena said wondrously.

"Wow, Kendal and Lloyd! That was amazing!" Colette, always the cheery one.

"Man… I can do better than that…" Zelos sulked while me and Lloyd basked in our glory. Well, as always, he was ignored.

"Interesting," Regal said, looking quite stunned that the ragtag group he was joining had this much power.

"Amazing… power…" Presea intoned emotionlessly. I had to wonder whether the girl could actually feel amazement, but who cared. This was a nice feeling, pride.

"Static beast," I said calmly. Everybody, even Lloyd, shushed. "I invented it by looking throw a few combat textbooks and then inventing combination techniques to go along with some of what I can do."

A silence.

"That means…" Genis said, wide-eyed, "That you can do other stuff? This… combination technique things?"

I gave him a snide look. "Are you guys that inexperienced? Haven't you ever done any of these before?"

"We sure as hell have!" Zelos said proudly. "Like-"

"Arch Wind, Pow Blade, Pow Spear, Lightning and Thunder Tiger Blade, Cross Thrust, Mirage and Power Thrust, Dark Serpent, and Mjollnir?"

They stared at me openly. I had just recited all possible compound techniques in one sentence, and now I revealed that I had a whole bunch in store.

What a shock, huh?

Zelos, sulking that I had outdone him, rushed over to the other entrance before any of us could even take a step. By the time that I was there, incredibly, he was waiting impatiently for us. He was even tapping his foot, creating the perfect picture of a poor guy who had a bunch of comrades who were sooooooooo slow.

I mused over where Zelos had gotten that burst of speed- He wasn't panting or even breathing hard when he was waiting for us. The others were. Even me, if you count an extra, long breath as a sign of lung stress. Where had he gotten that burst of speed, anyway?

**VWVWVWVWV **

Zelos was seething.

His brain was like a furnace right now. If somebody touched his forehead right now, at this very moment, they'd be thinking that he had a body temperature that reflected his flame-red hair.

What was getting him so worked up was the fact that he was constantly being humiliated by the rouge of the group. The one and only. Kendal Seycheyll.

He was besting him in so many things- Zelos could be said to be one of the best fighters in the group, with experience from training in Derris-Kharlan, magic in his veins from the legendary medicine, Aionis, and the fact that he was also an angel. Well, his wings were only visible and usable if he was wearing his Cruxis Crystal, but his stamina and speed and among other things was superior to most exsphere users, to say the least.

Yet he was being equaled by others, in many different ways- Lloyd, with his Angelus Project exsphere which was turning into a Cruxis Crystal, Presea, with her monsterous strength though slow speed, Sheena with the speed and accuracy of a ninja, Genis, with his amazingly powerful spells that far outclassed Zelos's, Raine with her healing techniques and powerful light magic spells, and Regal with his intricate style of feet-fighting that let him survive against all seven of them at the same time.

And, of course, Kendal. He possesed speed that was amazing, even by angelic standards. In fact, they exceeded them. His strength- Zelos supposed it was colossal, given that he cut though people so easily- Not exactly up to Presea's standards, who simple cut through enemies with one swing, but three-fourths that. That was amazing by itself. And to think that also knew spells that he had actually _invented_ for heaven's sake, _invented,_ and could actually cast them meant that with all this information, any person, dumb or not, could conclude that this... teenager was just not normal. And, most likely not even of the regular races. And there was his record as an assassin that had killed many Popes of Tethe'Alla for some decades, as the Chosen discovered leafing though the files of the imperial archive- Hey, he was the Chosen after all.

When he got the first chance possible, he would communicate with Lord Yggdrasil about this new, very dangerous threat.

** VWVWVWVWV**

"Ugh," I growled as I slashed through another abdominal section of a pack of mantises we had encountered on the way to Ozette.

The yellowish liquids that served as blood for the huge insect flowed freely from the multiple cuts that were already on its legs, body, and head. And yet, it just wouldn't die. If there was one thing I hated the most, it was monsters. Humans were so easy to kill- Head shot and that's all there is too it. But with monsters like this? This was definitely more than what I had bargained for. Such as hard exoskeletons of the grasshopper family which was shared by beetles, the rock skin of basilisks, the list went on and on... All humans could do was strap on armor which didn't help half the time and pray the hardest they could pray that a sharp object wouldn't jab at where they were most exposed.

The mantis, screeching its displeasure, sank one of its pincers in my arm. I winced, but didn't stop, instead taking the chance to slash off the pincers and then jumping back, as the mantis thrashed around from it lack of anything to, er, "chomp" with.

Taking the chance but not before ripping out the pincers form my left arm, drawing a limited burst of blood, I yelled "Fury Damnation!" as I unleashed a blurringly fast series of cuts that covered the head and body of the mantis with so many shallow but numerous gashes that the mantis began swaying from an insect's form of blood loss.

Pausing a moment, I shouted "Drop dragon!" and jumped forward, just above the head of the insect, and sliced downwards. The blade struck, unleashing a burst of blue mana represented with a fanciful decoration of a dragon's head which promptly blasted the mantis into pieces. Blasted back as a result of my unloading of mana, I landed on a thankfully dry patch of ground, which were getting rarer and rarer as we trudged closer and closer to the outskirts of the salt marshes.

Looking around, I spotted a boxer iris which had somehow ended outside the Gaoracchia Forest beeing pummeled with razor winds from an Air Thrust spell, courtesy of Genis the genius. Else where, Zelos was burning a tropical worm that lived in both the Forest of Death and the area around Ozette with a Hell Pyre technique, Lloyd was smashing away at the torso of a ghoul with his Heavy Tiger Blade move, Presea was hacking away at a battle ogre's ax and doing it quite destructively, given that with every swing she was bringing the ax closer and closer to breaking point, Raine was holding off a phantom who just wouldn't leave her alone with a Photon spell, and the group's convict, Regal, was busy whaling on another ghoul with kicks that would have easily broken a rib every time he kicked with those greaves attached.

In other words, everything was going well. I swiped away the blood that was staining my left hand's glove, making a mental note to wash it later, and then casually jammed my cleaver into the backside of the ogre that Presea was fighting. Letting out a pained roar, the ogre whirled around...

Right before Presea jumped into the air and said, just said, not anything else with emotion in it, "Devastation."

Whirling in the air, her ax came down with enough force that her ax just went though the head of the battle ogre like a hot knife through butter, stopping only when the edge of the ax struck the solar plexus. Also known as the chest bone. Withdrawing her ax, and also spraying me with blood, she walked away, leaving the ogre to topple backwards, well and truly dead, while I stood there, wiping away the purple blood splattered on my face. Not in my eyes- I had blinked at the last moment, of course.

I made a mental note to immediately wash my face, glove, and other parts of myself in the nearest freshwater source possible.

**_Later_**

I did, of course, but that was only at night, when I saw the river that fed the poison marsh with fresh water that would eventually become ooze that seemed into your skin and instantly poisoned you bloodstream. It was a slow-acting poison that was produced constantly by the marsh plants, so it wasn't too serious.

By then, Ozette was a mile away- We could see the lights glowing off in the distance. I knew that half of Ozette was always covered by the shadow of the cliff overhang that the town was underneath, and that there were multiple stone ramps that connected multiple levels of Ozette. I wondered who made the ramps- They always looked so frail, moss-covered and all. And on top of that, they were huge- Just how heavy were they? And yet, they snaked around in mid air in almost impossible forms. My guess was that the ramps were so ahrd that for thousands of years, the surrounding rock wore away, leaving them suspended in midair like moss-covered snakes of rock.

This was a place I hated- A town so full of discrimination, that I wanted to vomit every time I came there. Still though, it was majestic. I guess that to most humans, the discrimination was a necessary evil.

* * *

Me: Anyway, on the status of Raine Sage- Still unconscious from suffocation by kissing. 

Kendal: Oh, and by the way, Genis is burning Zelos with his lucky spell, Fireball.

Me: Hey, is he a pyromaniac or something. I mean, he used a f$ing Fireball spell on Yggdrasil in the game, for heaven's sake.

Genis: I AM NOT A PYROMANIAC!

Kendal: Then why are you doing so many Fireball spells when you can just do Cyclone and such?

Genis: Because it's so damn convenient, idiot!

Me: Isn't Aqua Edge, Lightning, and a whole lotta other stuff convenient as well?

Genis: W-well...

Me: There! You _are _a pyromaniac!

Genis: CYCLONE!


	33. Treasure hunt

Me: Agh, what's up with school? I can't believe they're forcing on me six hours of absolute boredom…

Kendal: Ohhhh, dear. Now what're you whining about?

Me: It's not like I whine every day…

Genis: Oh yes, on every other day, you torture people. Like my sister who is now in A F#$ COMA!

Me: Oh. Sorry about that.

Genis: ALL YOU CAN SAY IS SORRY????

Me: Uh, I don't own Namco or Tales of Symphonia or this rabid- Hey, wait, stop!

Genis: AIR THRUST!

* * *

Ozette.

The place was nice looking, had no odors, and generally had hospitable people.

If, of course, you weren't a guy that you'd meet if you went off the beaten track, that is. Plus, the place had a very high alliance to the Royals, so I had no clue why we had to help drag Presea to this place. This meant that I had to wrap my gauntlet again, and hide- I explained this to the others, and they nodded after some questioning about why I had to hide at all.

The truth was, I had to explain, I was wanted for the murders of several Popes over the years. And, after I said the Ozette had a very high level of loyalty to the Royals, they immediately nodded their consent. They had no intention of getting caught by mister not-so-nice-Pope.

Walking into the town was easy- The lantern that always signaled the entrance was there to guide people to the right spots, but the fact that there were always some people loitering around the entrance made it hard to get in without some sort of notice.

So, I bade them farewell and told them how to see me- Jab a finger at me if I was visible at the top of one of the buildings, of favorite type of hiding place.

The building in this case was the armor and weapons shop. The highest building was really at the food shop, Nature's Kitchen, but the only was without having to scale the walls would be to walk up the single stone ramp that led up to the ledge that housed the shop.

And besides the walls around Ozette were very soft- The same rock the originally formed the hillside that exposed the stone ramps. So, in other words, if I wanted to risk a lot of pain and loud noise, then go the "high" way, or stick with level one buildings. Besides, who'd want to look over the edge of the ramps at the top level of Ozette?

As I leaped up the armor shop wall, I noticed a commotion. Hopping up to the top level, I realized Presea was setting off at a dead run, and that that the residents were now pointing and even shouting curse words at her.

What the heck? Presea was weird and all, with no emotional response most of the time whatsoever, but….

What made her such a pariah in her own village?

I just sat there as the others came into the center of the village. They looked around for a bit, blah blah blah. They even went inside a few houses, for heaven's sake.

When they finally finished their general exploring, I was almost ready to fall over with boredom. Maybe even yell loud obnoxious words. Seriously, a guy can never put up with inactivity for half an hour, y'know?

They saw me, when I waved by wrapped gauntlet at them furiously- I was all but ready to burst out with irritation at their sheer stupidity. Even if two of them were prodigies. I went around the center of the village, ending up at the bottom of the ramp that I had seen Presea go down.

They came down, of course- They had exspheres, and therefore they could easily see where I was going. "This where Presea went?" Lloyd asked.

I nodded. "I haven't gone here lots of times, but from what I know, there's supposed to be a single house down there. Maybe where Presea's parents are."

I seriously doubted if she actually had parents.

That's when I saw him.

I immediately noticed a guy dressed in green robes and with purple hair and red-colored glasses. There was an evil look on him, and it didn't help that he was short.

"Thank you," the guy muttered. That's when he noticed _us_.

"Hmm? Are these guests as well?" He simpered in a crackly voice.

"Porters." Presea mumbled.

"Oh, I see…" he said in an evil fashion.

"Presea!" Genis cried. "We have to make a Key Crest for you!"

I instinctively winced. That idiot, why'd he have to yell out that for everyone, including mister evil, to hear?

"My job… awaits…" Presea intoned. "Goodbye."

She turned and walked into the house, while the guy with the red-tinted spectacles examined us. For the first time, I detected a strange mana signature in the air.

And this wasn't Raine and Genis, who already had ones that I had already assimilated into my subconscious. No, this was coming from _him_.

In other words, a half-elf.

"Only Presea can retrieve the sacred wood used in the ritual at the church. Now that she has returned, I'm quite pleased." He ended it with a cackle that gave me the goosebumps even as he walked away.

"That man…" Raine murmured. "He's a half-elf."

"Is he?" Lloyd asked, puzzled. "Now that you mention it, didn't we see him in Meltokio, too?"

"He's creepy," Colette said, which made me clench my jaws to stop myself from screaming. You did _not _say that with a cheery voice- That totally ruins the purpose of the phrase.

"I agree," Zelos said, uncharacteristically serious. "But…uh…I gotta say that I feel sorry for the guy."

What? Then, in a moment, everybody's favorite crossdresser dropped a bomb.

"I mean, he has to deal with the fact that there are magnificent specimens of males around like me," he chuckled.

"I'd say that you two are on the same level," Genis and I intoned at the exact same time, exact same bored tone, exact same facial expression.

He sulked while Raine, shaking her head at the bantering and the put-downing, interrupted. "I'd say we have a talk with Presea."

Going inside was easy- Presea left the door right open. But the thing was, the moment I touched the bottom step leading to the door, I got a very horrible smell in my nostrils. Something that signified rotting things.

I almost gagged, given that I hated such things and I had somewhat heightened abilities of smell, but I took it, as I wandered in along with the others.

We saw Presea running around, slashing a cylindrical block of wood into a wood idol. Apparently Jerboa ones- I knew ever idol and brooch that Ozette's inhabitants carved by memory.

Ignoring what we were saying to her, she only mumbled "I must do my job" in several short interrupted sentences.

So, given that she didn't try to force us out of , which seemed dusty and neglected, anyway, we continued into the house, where the stench was making me visibly screwing my eyes in an attempt to block out the smell. But nobody else noticed, they were going it as well.

That's when Raine walked in, and saw the bed. A moth-eaten blanket covered bed that looked dirty enough to make anyone, even the most careless about personal hygiene want to avoid.

Raine, walking over to the side of the bed to observe its occupant, immediately stepped back in shock, her face turning green. "Oh my…"

Alarmed, I rushed over to other side of the bed. There had to be-

Well, no duh, anything that visually makes a person turns green counts as downright freaky. And yes, it was freaky. I was staring at the back of a rotted skull turned brown. I knew Raine was dealing with worse- She was dealing with the rotted eyes of the dead… person.

I felt my stomach heave, but I kept it in, barely.

"What is it?" Lloyd asked, surprised by the looks of disgust on both of our faces.

I walked up to him and was about to spill it when Raine cut in. "Apparently, Presea has no idea of what happened to the person in that bed."

"Wh-what?" Zelos said, shocked, until he suddenly realized what she was saying.

I sealed it. "There's dead person in that bed, and she doesn't know about it."

The atmosphere in the room turned from a form of disgusted curiosity to shock and in some cases mourning.

We came out of the house in silence- We didn't even bother talking to Presea anymore.

Once outside, away form the stench, I burst out "What the HELL!"

Everyone stepped back in shock. "What?!" Lloyd yelped.

"Why in the named of hell isn't she burying that man or women in that bed!" I said furiously. Ignoring some frantic pleas to keep down my voice, I kept on going. "WHY THE HELL IS SHE ACTING LIKE A FRICKIN' _ANGEL_!"

They stared at me, suspicion immediately flaring.

"How do you-?" Lloyd began, but I roughly cut him off.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" I roared. "THAT EXSPHERE IS NOT A CRUXIS CRYSTAL, AND IF IT ALREADY IS, THEN WHY HASN'T SHE SPROUTED WINGS ALREADY? WHO STARTED THIS, ANYWAY?"

"Um," Zelos said in a small, meek voice, "The pope?"

"GOOD, THEN I'LL ADD HIM TO THE LIST OF POPES KILLED BY ME, THEN, WON'T I?" I raged, as I turned and strode towards the entrance to Altessa's place, conveniently placed just outside of Presea's house.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Every person stared openmouthed at the receding figure of Kendal and his fluttering scarf.

What made him so angry, Colette had no clue, but the fact that he acted so angrily against the thought of angels, she shuddered.

"Let's follow him, shall… we?" Regal said, breaking the silence in a shaky voice.

They nodded. Although there were obvious doubts on their faces.

**VWVWVWVWV**

If there were one thing I hated more than perky monsters who just wouldn't stop streaming out of from wherever they came from, then it was angels.

Angels. Emotionless. Graceful. Winged. Considered holy.

And downright evil, in my views.

To me, they represented people that gave up on life; people who might have had better prospects right around the corner in their lives, and now look at them. If they had emotions, then they might protest against this change on them. Now? They didn't care. They just slogged through eternity.

Eternity. I hated that word. To live until the end of time, with no way to end it. Unless you committed suicide- Nobody can live without fear of physical death, even if a person manages to stop their biological clock.

Reaching Altessa's house was easy- I had read the sign back in the forest just before we had to hightail it out of there, and knew just how to find it- Look for a door that look like it was deliberately slammed into the rock. Just look for that and you are good to go.

The exposed face of the rock, unusual as most of the cliffs around here were moss-covered, stood out like an eyesore in a minute I came out of Ozette.

Walking towards it, I saw the door, jammed in the rock along with windows and junk scattered along the front.

Well, maybe it wasn't- Dwarves, they used loads of weird things to create more, so I couldn't exactly say junk. Oh no, I'd better say "materials" if I was to raise such an object in front of any dwarf, neh?

So, I just stood to the side, shooting out dirty looks at packs of mantises who were wandering around, furtively looking at me. I think. How was I supposed to know through their damn compound eyes?

Pretty soon, the others came up. I was sorely tempted to give them a what-the-hell-took-you-exsphere-equipped-idiots look, but that would be destroying some certainly hard won social relations, no?

So, without further ado, I just opened the door, and peeked inside.

Just like the surrounding rock, the inside of the house was yellowish, but it seemed darker- That was because there wasn't any sunlight shinning here, I supposed, save a window. One window, that is. One.

Almost immediately, a green haired girl walked up. "Who is it?" she asked in a mechanical voice.

Mechanical. Just saying it in that tone made by blood boil, because it was so damned angel-like. Before I could start going ballistic, though…

"We'd like to see a dwarf named Altessa," Lloyd cut in. "Is this his home?"

"You desire a meeting with the master," the girl intoned. "Please, come this way."

Turning around sharply, she began walking a slow, steady pace.

Walking to the dwarf was easy. No rooms to go around, we only had to walk through the single, large domed room we were in. A table and quite a few chairs occupied the space in only a fourth of the room, but I noticed that there was a railing the prevented people from going to a fifth of the room.

We went down the stairs to the area behind the railing, which was also down the stairs, to discover a long-bearded dwarf who was hammering away at some kind of weapon. Must by an order by somebody, I figured- Dwarves, the ones who lived on the surface, always took orders to create weapons of all kinds, given that the craftsmanship of a dwarf was the last word in weaponry.

Maybe not for my cleaver- At the very least, it gave humans a sort of pride, having created a diamond edged blade, the only on of its kind.

"Who are you?" The dwarf said, looking up sharply from his work.

"My name is Lloyd," the brunette replied. "We've come in regards to Presea. We heard about her from Kate in Sybak."

A silence, as I saw the dwarf's eyes darken from behind the bushy eyebrows.

"Leave!" He snapped, turning away from us.

"What?" Lloyd yelped, startled.

"I have no intention to ever be involved with that girl again. Get out of here!" He shouted from behind his back.

Not knowing better, all we could do was to run like hell, back into the sort of "lobby".

"What was that all about!?" Lloyd raged, pacing around.

I had no smart remark to say, but I fortunately was saved by the girl who we still didn't know her name. "I apologize. The master does not want to get involved with Presea again."

"Why?" Genis pretty much screamed. "He doesn't care if she dies!?"

"If you are that committed," she said smoothly, "then you should search for inhibitor ore."

Lloyd gave her a funny look. "Presea's crest isn't made out of inhibitor ore?"

"Correct," the girl said. "Her crest is-"

We would have been quite glad to know what her crest was really made of if Altessa hadn't yelled "Tabatha! What are you doing!? Get them out!"

I whistled. This guy had one of the worst tempers I had ever seen.

"I apologize," Tabatha said, her name now revealed. "I must return. Please come back again. I will try to persuade him."

She walked away back down the steps. Before we could hear any bloodshed that was bound to happen, we took off out the door.

"Where can you find the inhibitor ore?" Colette asked, once were outside.

"I've heard it's mined in the mountain range that extends between Altamira and the Ymir Forest ," Regal said. It was the first thing he had said in my records since we had entered Presea's house. "I would like to help if you're going to create a key crest for Presea. I can lead you to the mine."

_Interesting. How in the heck would a lowly convict know about pretty much the only place to find it in Tethe'Alla that's know to humans?_

"Just what is your relation to Presea, anyway?" Lloyd asked.

Regal closed his eyes. "There is none."

Raine continued the grilling. "Yet you seemed quite concerned about her."

Lloyd though, cut off the interrogation only a question later after he started it- "Well, you haven't done anything suspicious so far. You're welcome to come with us."

"You said Altamira right!?" Zelos said, his eyes gleaming. "That place I awesome! Let's stop by on the way there!"

"No you won't," I hissed to him, as Sheena started to rant about how gaudy and dirty the place was, "I'm taking the shorter way, and that's not passing Altamira . Cuz I'm driving."

The manic grin that was on his face disappeared with that comment, and he scowled.

"We're going out to sea again, aren't we," Raine mumbled.

Oh dear. A case of aquaphobia. Just what we needed.

I began walking away, already planning what to torture Raine next with.

Meanwhile, Zelos and Regal stayed behind. Must have been a little chat, from what I guessed was between them. Not that I knew that there _was_ anything between them, but…

As we headed back to Ozette, the town so very near the only pier on this part of Tethe'Alla, I bid them temporary farewell and headed over to the main entrance/exit of zette while they shopped for food. _Food. _

Well, I guess it was vital to our daily survival, but…

I heard loud voices from above, which sent all the villagers looking skyward at the source of the voices, which one of them happened to sound like-

Lloyd?

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd stared, furious, at the retreating figure of the man who had raised such rude comments about Presea.

Well, he didn't usually use the word rude, but this situation required special words.

He shook his head. "The level of discrimination in this place… it's incredible…"

"People aren't limited to discrimination between the races," Sheena mused, "It's like everybody hates every person not normal."

Raine was thinking of how her mother, purebred elf that she was, and how she had been banished from Heimdall, the village where she was born. What was the benefit of just banishing a person who married on of the opposing blood? What was it?

Without another word, they trooped up to the food shop and brought all they needed. In silence.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Knowing that something was wrong the moment I saw their faces, I shot them a look.

Lloyd responded like a dead person. "A guy told us to get out of Ozette with Presea."

Ah. I nodded, knowing that Lloyd had once again stood up for his quest against discrimination.

* * *

Sorry there's no skit for this chapter. Next chapter though, will contain something veeery evil. To me and Kendal, at least... 


	34. Boom!

Oh dear. Writer's block coming…

Kendal: Which means you can't get a real reason to type anymore, right?

Me: Well, yeah, but- HOLY F#$, WHAT???

Kendal: AHHHH!!! WHAT IS IT!?

Me: (points)

Kendal: (turns around) What the- OH SH#&!

Zombie Raine: I'll eat your braaaaaiiiins….

Me/Kendal: I'M SORRY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY-

Raine: (tears off zombie suit) SHUT UP!

Me/Kendal: (faint)

* * *

To say that I'd steer an oceangoing vessel slowly and safely would be like saying that Lloyd got a hundred on the hardest and most vicious test in the world. 

The moment we walked to the only pier on this part of Tethe'Alla, I ripped the wing pack from Lloyd's hands and jumped into the pilot's seat the moment the EC formed in a cloud of smoke.

From the moment I jumped in, I hoped desperately that Raine would pick a spot in the center of the EC, just below the hatchway. This way, it would be a part of my very evil plan for, to put it bluntly, torture.

Fortunately, Raine did it- Well, not exactly. There were four seats under the hatch, which stayed open most of the time, to be only covered with a flimsy covering when we needed it to be. As in rain.

Hopefully, it didn't do that. I hoped that it would be sunny through the estimated three-hour ride to the southern continent via boat. This type of boat.

A fast one, no doubt about it- I had seen for myself how fast this could go.

So, as soon as they finished boarding (It was now slightly cramped, given the need to sit a ninth rider, as in our group's very own convict) I tapped Sheena on the shoulder impatiently.

"What?" She said distractedly. "Oh… yeah. Undine!"

Immediately the Maiden of the Mist appeared. "Undine," Sheena ordered, "Supply this EC with mana."

Nodding, the summon spirit raised a hand. I immediately felt my hair stand on end as a huge pulse of mana burst from the water elemental's hand and followed it up with more for half a minute.

Disappearing, I tried to calm my nerves as the EC was pretty much pulsing with mana, enough to make me feel queasy with my extra sensitive blood in my veins.

I decided to calm it in the only way I knew how to right now. "Go," I whispered, and pushed the pedal.

Suddenly, my queasiness disappeared in a millisecond to be replaced with adrenaline. This EC had never been pushed to its limits, and therefore that was why I had felt the rides were always so boring. But _this_?

The G-force kept me back in my seat, but I could still see from the view screen and rearview mirror, showing that the others had faces that resembled fish breathing.

As in, eyes bulging, mouth open, and a look in their eyes screaming _SLOW THE DAMN BOAT DOWN! PLEASE!!!!_

Not a chance in hell I'd do that. I kept my foot on the pedal, and therefore we quickly left Ozette behind us.

Oh look, now I see Raine turning green.

I decided to pull off phase two of my "Torture Raine" plan.

I let loose the pedal, and slammed the steering pole to the left sharply.

The engine let out a very, _very _high-pitched whining as the side jets blasted at full capacity, sending the EC at the wildest spin possible.

Knowing that in half a second at this speed the EC would be having its back towards where we were going towards, currently the Temple of Lightning, I jammed the opposite direction on the over-sized joystick that was the way to steer, and then jammed the EC in full forward.

The EC immediately tilted backwards, digging its rear into the ocean while still going in our desired direction.

The water blasted upwards into the hatch, and somehow most of it fell on a now-very-freaked-out Raine Sage.

She started screaming incomprehensible gibberish, causing me to wince and almost cover my ears. But if I did that, most likely I'd cause this rickety thing we were traveling in to flip over. Not a very nice thought.

So, I shoved it into both reverse and a side direction, a particular one of no matter.

So, we were back on course to the Temple of Lighting. Knowing that Sheena would most likely start spazzing just like Raine had done back there only a few minutes ago, I steered clear of it for some ten miles, but the tower of the temple was always so very visible.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Ahhhhh!!!!" Lloyd yelled as Kendal, their driver, sent them into another wild spin. And, in another moment, a very sharp tilt.

Raine, besides him, started screaming with her might yet again. Lloyd was very tempted to get involved the tilt that Kendal was putting them through and just slammed his gloves against her mouth. Anything to shut the screaming, wild-sounding half-elf besides him. He got the worst of it, after all.

Before the three-hour journey had finished, Kendal had thrown them in for at least ten mega-tilts that sent Raine into mega-spazzing fits. Amazingly, getting over their initial shocks over the tilt, everybody howled as Raine attempted to clutch at somebody. Unfortunately, half the time it was a certain brunette. Other times? The wall. Sometimes she leapt clear out of her seat to grip other people. Obviously, they were disgusted after being hugged like a lifesaver. For no particular reason.

**VWVWVWVWV**

When we pulled into the only dock on the southern continent, Raine was looking like a frazzle-haired old woman, wide-eyed and all.

I coughed loudly as we were getting off, startling Raine out of her frightened trance.

Maybe it was better to leave her on board- She kept sending me dirty looks that stretched as we camped for the night- Three hours is plenty of time for night to move in, after all.

Genis sniggered at Raine, who still had frazzled hair, and received yet another dirty look- Raine was getting oh-so very twitchy at pretty much anyone around her. Well, they weren't blaming me in case she went into insanity.

Okay, maybe they were going to…

_**The next morning**_

I volunteered automatically for night watch- Raine had drunk an abnormally large amount of coffee around the campfire while Genis prepared rice balls.

A.K.A.- She was unintentionally acting on night watch. In an attempt to kill me in my sleep. Too bad I could force myself insomnia without the large amount of caffeine. Besides, I hated sour things.

And so, I tapped my foot impatiently while Raine constantly kept her eyes on me, with a look that uncomfortably seemed like a rabid hare. Seriously, they had glittery eyes, and their opened mouths looked plain psychotic.

And so, finally, the caffeine wore off, and she got a very sleepy look. No duh. Humans, any living thing automatically gets the whack by the reaper with little sleep. Biologically proven.

Hey, with the semi-altered Cruxis Crystal in my wrist didn't cover that. Sometimes, I wish it did. But wouldn't that be the same as existing with no purpose? You couldn't even have emotions strong enough to ask for it all to end. Rather, no emotions at all.

And so, I'm attempting to stop myself from yawning as we walk over to the Toize Valley Mine. Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with a case of starvation and exhaustion combined- I was fed a hearty omelet breakfast by Genis, who seemed to thrive pretty much cooking. That only left exhaustion to fend off.

The mine entrance was just a huge hole in the ground, supported by multiple boards to prevent the entrance from collapsing. Odd, as the entrance frame itself was really limestone. Old limestone, since the mine itself had been used for years and years. I couldn't remember the last time I heard about how exspheres where excavated here, dormant mutations of golems, perhaps, as they were the only things that actually lived in rock itself, that could become a tool that could devastate even the most rabid and powerful monsters around through time and… sacrifice.

Sacrifice as in attachment directly to the skin.

"This is it?" Lloyd asked. Regal, always the mute, nodded, and we walked inside.

I spotted a large, peculiar door with a large exsphere attached to its center. Most likely to strengthen it from vandals, given that the mine had been closed some twelve years ago. The same time where the president of Lezerano Company had mysteriously disappeared from the face of the earth.

Then I realized something. A module in the middle of the room was rotating slowly, something that I had no idea what in the name of hell was causing it. Also, there was a pair of two things that look oh-so strangely akin to the much feared Raybits that the Renegades employed in their defenses.

Except these had longer cannon barrels, and they were hovering there, a small amount of electricity crackling over each of them. Constantly.

That was weird. Raybits, unless if my memories were unstable, just like my mind was (Maybe that was a stupid thing to say, given that minds held memories) never had spare amounts of electrical energy crackling all around them. That was just plain wasteful.

They just hovered there, the scope that served as their eyes currently closed.

I noticed that there were also four huge pillars that were retracted in the wall- They also had spare amounts of electricity crackling over them.

"Uh-oh."

Regal, as I knew him, had allegedly worked at this mine before and therefore knew all about it- So, it was time to see what he knew.

"What is it?" Lloyd asked, his voices echoing through the cavern.

Immediately, the Raybit-clones had their scopes snapped open. Immediately scanning the area, they didn't see us hidden in a shade of dim light.

"The guard system is out of control." Regal paused, surveying the scene, and then finished "Someone must have triggered it when they attempted to force open the mine."

"What are those?" I asked, knowing immediately that these things were hostile.

"Orbits," Regal said. "The main form of defense of the mine. It launches very powerful stunning projectiles at intruders."

By intruders, no doubt he meant himself and us. Oh no.

I decided to get experimental- Knowing that this stuff was magitechnology, I wondered if the crackling electricity meant that we could perhaps be able to force mana in them, unlike regular, properly functioning magitechnology devices.

So, I closed my eyes, and willed a small amount of mana to float forward toward an Orbit.

All went well until a few feet away from the floating machine, where I encountered a barrier that I simply couldn't force through mentally. Not a problem- I formerly had to deal with a barrier that was perhaps some ten feet in length. I could just create a large enough explosion to engulf the machine.

"Hey Genis," I said, with my eyes still closed. I heard the half-elf perk up behind me.

"What?" he asked as I shoved another burst into the mass that I was forming.

"Can you get a spell to initiate underneath one of the orbits?" I asked.

"OK," He said, startled by the question, but nonetheless closed his eyes and started chanting.

"What are you talking about?" Raine said, puzzled, just like the others.

"I was wondering-," I said through gritted teeth- The mana I was building was now large enough to engulf both of the Orbits, I needed to be able to warn them of what I needed to do or they'd do something stupid like run directly into the midst of the center of the cavern where the door was.

"-Whether you could actually be able to cast a spell at all on those things," Knowing perhaps they could- Magitechnolgy only bounced back pure mana, not converted mana. Still through, an explosion in your face isn't something you can ignore, unlike a flotilla of fireballs heading towards your face.

And so, finally, Genis yelled "Grave!"

I heard the unmistakable rumbling of five rock sprires rising from the ground at varing angles, each of them particularly sharp. No doubt that the spell would easily leave at least four visible marks on the hard metal coat of the Orbit.

The second Orbit immediately floated towards its twin, given that I felt the barrier shift so that now...

The mana mass was completely entraped within the barriers.

"Boom," I whispered, and snapped my fingers.

Immediately the cavern was rocked by a thunderous explosion that brought me to my knees from the shockwaves. From the thuds behind me and the panicked yelps, most likely, the others also fell as well- The explodability of the mana was intense from being crushed so hard.

Finally, the rumbling stopped. Knowing the mine walls were of solid limestone helped- I wouldn't have even bothered with the snap explosion if I knew that there was a risk of a cave-in. Hell, anybody would blame me, and most likely I'd never leave out of the place alive if I did something like that and the walls were unstable.

I rose up cautiously- Who knew, the Orbits might have a sort of energy shield that defended them from such destructive items and events. Like, an explosion for instance.

Slowly, the smoke cleared- Not surprising that the cave was a cavern, after all. The Orbits were down, the intense static that covered them growing more furious.

But that wasn't the center of my attention. To my amazement, I saw the ripped metal, and the dents from Genis's Grave spell, beginning to slowly, ever so slowly, but surely, begin to straighten and repair themselves.

The others, standing up, looked over my shoulder to see what had me transfixed, and when they saw it after a few seconds, they were stunned as well. Machines simply didn't repair themselves, and they so as hell couldn't repair by magic, as healing magic was simply pure mana only sparingly converted.

But this? This was unthinkable, unless there was something else at work...

Something else. Immediately, my eyes snapped to the slowly spinning piece of machinery on the ground.

"What the _hell_ is that?" I asked as I pointed to the machine on the ground.

"The Auto-Repair unit," Regal said automatically. Then, he realized what he had just said.

Everyone stared at the embarrassed Regal, as he attempted to stammer "Uh, well, uh... Y-yes, it automatically repairs damage to both the door, the orbits, and everything else in t-the guard system..."

"Holy shit," I groaned, slapping my forehead in frustration, "You're telling us that if we can get in the damn inside of the mine at all, we're going to have to fight them every time we come back out?"

"What!?" Lloyd yelped in shock. "We're going to-!?"

"It's all theoretical, you hothead," I said, rolling my eyes at him. "Still through, if we do have to fight our way out of here every time we go in and out..."

I let my words hang in the air for a bit, and then turned to examine the scene.

The smoke had almost completely cleared, and the Orbits were beginning to rise, the armor they wore almost halfway healed. Crap.

"Bastards," I muttered wretchedly under my breath. Just how were we supposed to down them and keep them down now? Making explosions via a snap of of the fingers was very exhausting, and it didn't help that I was also exhausted from my sleepless night.

That's when my eyes fell on the great eyesore of an exsphere which looked like it was bolted to the door.

If my memory served me right, machines of magitechnology mostly drew their energy from exspheres attached to them, so if the door was the centermost part of the entire guard system...

I turned to Regal. "What would happen if the exsphere was destroyed?" I asked.

I saw the others look at me in confusion, but that was only the Sylvarant side of the team- The other side, Regal included had their eyes lit up. "The guard system would immediately deactivate."

I grinned. The others immediately got the idea, and started grabbing out weapons.

"Crunch time," I muttered, and sprinted towards the now-almost-completely-healed Orbits.

* * *

Next chapter... has lots of ROBOT BASHING! MUWAHAHA! 

Kendal: Robots? What's fun about destroying mindless things who don't even know how to be nice and say at least "Hi, I'm going to shoot you!" like humans do!?

Me: Er, nobody does that, idiot. You always want to have the element of surprise, like Raine did.

Kendal: Damn Raine. How do we get her back?

Me: (holds tape) I really recorded her freaky moments in Triet. So...

Both: BLACKMAIL, BABY.


	35. Arms and doors o' destruction

Features of this chapter include a very difficult massacre of machines, some obscene rants from the usual suspect, and Raine getting freaky yet once again.

Genis: God, will you stop abusing my sister!?

Me: Oh, nooooo. It's just gonna step up, little kiddie.

Genis: WHAT DID YOU CALL ME???

Me: A kiddie- Oh hey! The psycho in question arrives!

Raine: (walks by) Oh hello everyone-

Me: (inserts tape into VCR) Let the show begin!

Raine: (sees herself getting freaky over ruins in Triet) NUUUUUU!!!!!! HEEEELLP ME MOMMY! NUUUUU WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY- (faints)

Kendal: W00t! Payback!

Genis: WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO???

Me: RUN!

* * *

My flashy entrance, glittering cleaver and all, was not to be missed by anyone. 

I quickly dove for cover as the two Orbits turned and shot at me at the same time, the pulses they shot going over my head in a cross.

Rolling over, I realized in a flash (Hey, even if I was sleep deprived, my sort of "battle fever" state could send me into an adrenaline spike in a millisecond) I was underneath an Orbit, just in front of it.

They had no chance. "Damnation!" I shouted, smoothly rising like a ghost and twirling rather then slashed, I dropped the machine in my five weak cuts. Twirly, baton-style.

Since it was down, I decided to expose it to a full Dominating Blade shockwave. Two of them, really. "Dual dominating blade!" I yelled, slamming the earth once straight through- The gold shockwave bore the Orbit through the air, and would have crash landed if I hadn't continued the rotational momentum of my cleaver- The blade struck again, and stayed there. But the damage was done- The Orbit flew away from me in an arc, and bounced against a stalactite, driving straight through it. Lucky.

I immediately turned my attention to the Auto Repair unit, which was sitting there, immobile, spinning around slowly while it was at it.

The others were peppering the second Orbit with attacks nearby- As I watched, I saw Regal down the floating mechanical entity with a Spin kick, which quickly morphed into a high-flying Crescent Moon which sliced the air brightly. Finally, he blasted downward with an Eagle Dive, and slammed the Orbit to the ground. Lloyd was already there, Shiden Blades unsheathed, ready to rain hell as machines always had a sucker spot for electricity.

Lucky Shiden blades were just that. "Lightning Tiger!" Lloyd yelled as he preformed an electrically charged variation of his familiar Tiger Blade technique.

Leaving them at that…

"Dominating Blade!" I shouted, striking the immobile machine, making it wobble and slashing it with marks that made it look like it was barraged with a few sharp miniature needles, given the deepness, but still spinning. "Fury damnation!" I called out, striking the machine with ten mach-speed cuts that were light, but served its purpose- One of the random slashes struck a slit that led into its inner working. The machine shuddered, its rotation slowing down. For a bit, at least.

"Wolf fang PULSE!" I roared, jamming the tip of my broadsword into the now-battered metal.

Penetrating with a loud _skree_ I tensed my arms, will a burst of mana to travel down the length of my blade and release into a full-fledged explosion. It happened one second later- I was blown backwards, skidding, while the Auto Repair unit shuddered.

"Kendal, behind you!" Genis yelled, as he was casting an Absolute spell.

Knowing that he meant the Orbit, which I knew couldn't stay down forever, I rushed the Auto Repair unit again, not even bothering to dodge.

The pulse of shocking electricity hit me square in the back, the rough cloth that covered it sizzling from the heat. I was pitched forward, stumbling.

But there was no pain. No numbness. My back was already numbed, permanently. What was the point of dodging something that couldn't give you any pain?

I looked up to see the ice crystals formed by an Absolute spell crushed the Orbit behind me, and then implode, driving hundreds of razor sharp spikes through the metal.

I turned my attention to the Auto repair unit, now being assaulted by Sheena. "Pyre seal!" she shouted, slapping on a card that immediately multiplied with enough force to rattle the repair unit. As a plus, it created a large dent on the side.

Realizing that most likely that the best way to destroy these things would be to use magic, I quickly crossed my arms, and thought of raging waves, stormy oceans…

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Power seal!" Sheena shouted, nailing a guardian on the side of the Auto Repair unit. Immediately, the metal turned softer, more brittle, which made it easier for her to destroy-

"Move!" Kendal yelled behind her. Confused, nonetheless she hopped backwards.

Then, she noticed the two bodies of water which was floating effortlessly in the air on either side of the Auto Repair unit. To be exact, they were spheres that held an amount of water that equaled (To Sheena's shock) the same amount of water that flowed through Mizuho in a second. .

She remembered how Kendal had soaked all of them, and cleaned them in the process back in the outskirts of Meltokio, and eyes widening, she stepped much farther back, up to the wall.

"Aquatic Implosion!"

The two large spheres of water immediately morphed into streams that slammed into the Auto Repair unit, crushing the metal easier thanks to the kuniochi's Power Seal. Awed, she watched as the water forced the metal to bend, snap, and rumble, and then back off only to slam into the machine with enough force to spray the water through out the cavern.

Everyone stared, given that their brains immediately jammed into an absent-minded, absolutely-stunned mindset that the group paid for.

_Kzzak._

That was the sound of two Orbits firing connecting electric pulses that temporarily stunned Genis and Zelos, the latter of which screamed "My beautiful face!" while he stumbl'ed around, clutching at the face in question in the process. "Photon!" Raine cried, causing light to converge on her brother's attacker, crushing it with both heat and pressure (Though a _very_ far way off from a certain recently cast spell).

That ended the little prelude. Immediately, the brawl resumed, but not before the two Orbits started rapid-firing small but still stunning pluses that managed to hold off the rest of the party, until Genis, recovered from his stunned state with a First Aid from his sister, yelled "Air Thrust!"

**VWVWVWVWV**

I bent down to my knees, winded with that spell. Normally, of course, I'd be up and running in a second, but now? Make that five seconds.

The spell had been developed when I was forced to fight a bunch of water-using mages who each used spells in such ways that I was almost never able to hit any of them, because I was too preoccupied most of the time with dodging the spells, which inconveniently were Tidal Waves.

Sure, after I killed one person, it was a domino effect- They didn't have time to cover me with Tidal Waves given that the time that it took for them to cast the spells had just been lengthened, given that a certain person missing now couldn't take up a time slot and so keep me occupied. Constantly. It's obvious that not even I can keep dodging for hours, and those guys were master warlocks- They had mana- Lots of it. And besides, they popped pineapple gels when they were out. Bastards. All I had time for was the occasional lemon gel from the crashing waves of the, err, Tidal Waves.

And so, I was thinking afterwards "What if I hadn't been able to dodge those spells?" Not that Tidal Wave spells were already hard to dodge, but they were weak. So, what to do? Invent my own version of a devastating spell you just couldn't run from.

Which led to me relentlessly attempting to formulate a spell you just couldn't dodge from. The result? Aquatic Implosion. Undodgeable, incredibly devastating, and plus, cooling.

I rose up, after shaking my head a bit, and observed- The Orbits were thrashed, the Auto Repair system was almost completely shut down until it could completely heal itself again, and the door was a sitting duck. But what about those "arms" that dangled from the wall?

I decided to finish off the Auto Repair unit first- Therefore, it could only repair itself, not anything else.

"Aeroslicer," I said, and flicked my cleaver at the unit. The machine sprayed sparks, but didn't stop spinning.

I wondered if a huge impact would be good enough and almost crossed my arms when Genis shouted "Grave!"

The five rock spikes blasted from underneath the machine, three of them going right through it. With a shudder, the machine's rotations slowly, slowly stopped.

I let out a whoop, and charged the door- The others could handle the Orbits.

Before I could reach the door, though, the "arms" popped out of their sockets on the wall, and began to move over my head.

I could see spikes on its underside, and knew immediately that this was apparently the guard system's last line of defense- Two Orbits could never be enough to repel a well-organized assault. So, they included these hulking, spiked things to do the last bit of wet work.

They were slow moving, though- Something that I needed, for hit-and-run attacks- If I was too occupied with attacking the door, the guard arms didn't need to be fast- I was already unmoving, so what was the need?

Now, to test the waters…

"Aeroslicer!" I shouted running and slashing away at the same time. My slicing minion, always so sporadic in his appearances, crashing into the exsphere that emblazoned the door.

The exsphere sizzled, but didn't break. Anyway, a pillar shot out of the bottom of the "arm" that was nearest to me, blowing up a cloud of dust that temporarily blinded me. Almost, anyway, but I made a mental promise to never, ever get hit by that. Even close.

"Urrraaaagghhh!!!" I roared as I leaped up like a panther, and threw my cleaver over my head, letting it tilt upward slightly as both me and my oversized weapon sped towards our targets.

I felt a jolt that jarred my grip when the tip of the cleaver slammed into the exsphere. Immediately, a visible- Small, but nonetheless, visible- crack appeared as I hopped back as three guard arms attempted to crush me with their extendable bottoms.

Okay. That was a good start.

Now, how to disable the arms-

Suddenly, I remembered the one time I decided to be _really_ crazy and leaped onto the head of a dragon. So, in this case, the dragon- Well, dragons, really- was just a shapeless, hulking arm.

No, I was _really_ crazy.

Groaning slightly to myself, I jumped on the nearest guard arm that had its "spike" jammed into the ground and was only beginning to retract its "spike" from the dusty ground.

Immediately, it lifted up in the ground, and attempted to tilt its "cannon" towards me. No good, since it didn't have a swiveling joint. The other arms however, could easily get a shot at me. One shot slammed perilously close to my gauntlet, but sent the arm I was riding crashing into the metal wall.

I leaped onto another one. _Wham. _

I continued this for a few more minutes, until the arms were all disabled-I finished off the last one with a Dominating Blade. With that, I turned to the door, and-

"Crap," I whispered.

The exosphere itself was beginning to repair itself, which obviously meant that the Auto Repair unit was backing business- Which it was, but only at half capacity, as it was still creaking as it turned.

I looked at the others, and almost screamed in frustration. Not knowing better, half the group were still bashing the Orbits, which were now nothing more than a few scraps if metal and crackling wires. The other three were smashing away at the Auto Repair unit, like they were actually _supposed_ to, but that was only the Tethe'Allans, given that they were the only ones in the group who could currently understand the inner workings of machines. Besides me.

I screamed.

"What the _fucking hell_ are you idiots doing!" I roared at the Syvarantites.

They immediately stopped attacking. "What else!" Raine screeched at me. "We're disabling them permanently, since they keep getting repaired-"

"NO FRICKIN' DUH, YOU IDIOT HALF ELF, BUT HAVEN'T YOU NOTICED THAT IF YOU DON'T PUT THE DAMN AUTO REPAIR UNIT OUT OF COMMITION FOR THE TIME BEING, THEN THEY'LL _NEVER_ BE PERMANETLY DISABLED???"

The cavern fell silent with my echoes. Which was lucky, because I then heard the groaning of a guard arm.

"Why do I even give a shit about you?" I groaned, once again exhibiting my very dirty mouth, as the guard arm ominously moved over my head.

I dived out of the way as the hydraulically-powered ram slammed into the earth. That would have broken anybody's bones, but nothing broken if everything is dodged, neh?

I lashed blindly behind me and felt the satisfying _crrrnshk_ of diamond ripping through metal. Most likely strengthened steel. Twisting around, I leaped on the half-thrashed guard arm, but this time I raised my blade above me as I blasted forward, and slammed it straight through the diameter of the arm.

Ripping it out, I watched in satisfaction as the arm wobbled a bit, and then crashed on the ground. Easy pickings would be the deal now.

If it wasn't for a second Orbit that the others had failed to see. Amazingly, it hadn't fired until now, quite unusual given that most machines of its type often fired at any available moment.

The shot struck me in my side, sending me stumbling to my side and cursing all the way. The Orbit fired a second time, managing to hit my right arm this time, before Genis intervened. "Spread!" the half-elf shouted, as a pillar of water gathered underneath the offending machine and blasted upwards, sending its parts flying randomly through the air as it disintegrated.

I looked over to see Regal land a final Swallow Kick on the Auto Repair unit. With that, the machine shuddered, and then stopped spinning. There, no more repairing for it. For the time being.

But not before one more thing came into play- Two more guard arms, though looking as if only touching them could cause them to fall apart, swung over Zelos and Colette as they attempted to go to the door (Colette flying) and shot their ramming rods.

The redhead managed to dodge the rod that sped towards him, but not his companion- With a cry of pain, the angel spun in midair haphazardly, clutching a stab wound in her side. Sure, angels had superhuman strength and all, but did they have superhuman skin? Apparently, _no duh. _

Seeing his little angel in distress, Zelos cried "Lightning Blade!" managing to catch Colette's attacker with a thrust that somehow caused lightning to strike where he stabbed- The arm shuddered as the circuits inside (I think) were overloaded from the new burst of electricity. Quickly, Zelos shouted "Hell Pyre!" and slashed upwards in the air, after which he launched a very solid fireball that drover the hulking metal extension into the ground, and shattered it when the fireball itself imploded.

As Zelos's guard arm swung over him, I yelled "Blade Rocket!" as I dropped my torso to the ground right next to the guard arm and threw it upwards, sending me to the air as well- Usually, the kick itself, as my lower body often trailed behind me as I did this, drew up my opponent with me, just how was I supposed to kick essentially a big bar of metal into the air with me? So, I let my cleaver trail behind me- It looked like that, but in reality, I was keeping it stiff so that the blade snagged the arm and brought it up with me.

Twenty feet above the air, I ripped out the blade from the niche I had created when the blade snagged on the guard arm, and angled myself downward, streamlining my body.

And spinning. The winds picked up around me as my level of air resistance rapidly fell, ensuring that I fell like a stone. A whirling and very lethal stone.

Whirling as in my cleaver- The slashes, so numerous and fast, easily shredded section after section of smooth, (very) beaten metal as I drove both myself and it into the earth.

The machine itself landed hard, but I treated myself to a safe, though hard, landing by flipping over, my broadsword slashing through the earth haphazardly as a result. That also contributed to a finishing touch, a spiraling shredding wind that promptly sliced apart of whatever remained of the thoroughly mangled machine. How quaint.

I stood up, and saw the others whaling the door with all they had- A problem as the door was wide enough for attack by pretty much only seven people. Where could I find the extra space?

Or maybe, I didn't need it. I crossed my arms, and began thinking of thunderstorms. Huge thunderstorms.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Demon Fang! Beast! Demonic Thrust!" Lloyd shouted, completing the three-technique combo after a shockwave, a burst of energy, and two shockwaves and a very powerful thrust.

He backed up, as Regal started striking a door, and suddenly, he felt his hair tingle with static.

_Static?_ Suddenly, Lloyd realized this was the same feeling he had gotten when he had last collaborated with Kendal to form his Static Beast combination attack, except the feeling was running in his veins.

Now, it was all external.

Suddenly, the not-so-academically gifted brunette realized what was going on. "Get away from the door!" he shouted. The others gave him a puzzled look, but they did that.

"Static…"

A loud _crrrnshk_ sounded as the lower half of the door buckled.

"SPIKE!"

The air suddenly became blindingly bright as static blasted downward in a funnel toward the hidden-from-sight metal spike that was crunching into the door. The electricity assaulted the exosphere, causing cracks to intensify and static to dance across the surface of the living, power-boosting stone.

When the spell ended, the door was a charred husk that had electricity dancing on it.

"Yes!" Lloyd shouted. "Now all we have to do is attack it some more and-"

"That'll take too long," Sheena cut in. Then, she closed her eyes and set her Card of Wind in front of her, where it floated. "I summon," she began, as rings of blue began to appear around her.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Holy crap," I said unconsciously, drawing stares from the others, "she's summoning…"

"-The maiden of the mist. Come, Undine!" she shouted, as I felt a huge burst of mana that almost made me stumble.

The Maiden of the Mist appeared with a flash of blue light. "What is it?" Undine asked in a voice that seemed like, almost water flowing.

"Undine," Sheena said clearly, "Destroy that door."

Ohhhh.

"Hmph," she said, but turned to the door anyway.

"Spread!" she called out, flicking her hand.

Immediately, the water bubbled up at a rate faster by far Genis would ever be able to do, and blasted upwards so fast I had to blink rapidly to protect my eyes from the wind that picked up.

When we could see the door again, the exsphere was crumbling, pieces dropping off even as we watched. Colette, somewhat intelligent despite the fact she was oh-so very dense, threw one of her chakram a Ray Thrust technique. Immediately, the exsphere burst into pieces.

"If there is nothing else," Undine said smoothly, "then I shall take leave." With a nod from her summoner, the Maiden of the Mist disappeared.

"Now, let's go find that inhibitor ore!" Lloyd said brightly, and rushed in.

We followed, all except Regal, who muttered "They're all so violent" before following us in.

I wondered whether to agree, but I decided not to even bother.

* * *

Yay, the destruction of machines are very welcome events in such a game. ;D 

Kendal: Well, I don't like it. They're too stupid.

Me: No. Duh. That's what's fun about beating the crap out of them!

Kendal: You take pleasure in writing the destruction of stupid, non-living entities???

Me: Hey, when you do it, anybody would say, "Cool! That guy does it, those things are stupid, yeah! Let's join him! Yeah!"

Kendal: WHAT???


	36. Bacura bashing

Kendal: As for our favorite professor Raine Sage, she's currently the object of a debate whether to send her back in time or not.

Me: (comes back) The verdict is…

Everyone: What?

Me: TO… SEND HER BACK IN TIME WITH THE VIDEO! MUAHAHAHA!

Genis: THAT'S IT!

Me: What?

Genis: I AM GOING TO PREFORM AN INDIGNATION JUDGEMENT ON YOU IF YOU DO THAT! I DARE YOU!

Kendal: Shall I take him out?

Genis: OH REALLY? I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!

Kendal: (pokes in eye)

Genis: AHHHH!!! YOU SON OF A B$#!

Me: I don't own this little kid idiot, or Tales of Symphonia. But I DO own the actions of Genis Sage. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

* * *

I had never been inside the Toize Valley Mine, carved directly from inside the southern mountains. 

But I did know that it was owned, even now, by the world-famous (at least for Tethe'Alla) Lezareno Company, which was also the single-handed constructor of Altamira- What used to be a simple stretch of beach was now the second largest of cities in Tethe'Alla, a pretty amazing feat considering that the beach used to be the dumping grounds for all sorts of magitechnology-related waste. The island itself was a dump, until the Lezareno Company moved in.

The mine was large enough to ward off my claustrophobia, but that was because parts of it sharply dropped off to the side in cliffs. It didn't help that monsters were in here. Sure, the floor was packed hard enough, so no random slipping and sliding there, but to be sure, get close to the edge, and there was no telling where vertigo would take you.

For heaven's sake, I didn't even know if anyone in the group had a fear of heights!

Immediately the moment we walked into the mine past the door, there it was- A few monsters prowling around. Bats. A few golems. Basilisks. The same kinds that we had fought outside. At least there wasn't red mantises- They caused the biggest headaches, and besides, I still hadn't gotten treatment for the stab wounds on my left arm yet. That left me with a very bad feeling that anything could reopen them, but what could? Nothing by the looks of it in here had anything big (Except for the fists of the rock golems) or sharp enough to do it…

"Where's the ore?" I asked. Everywhere I looked, there was no sign of mining, unless you counted the huge gaping tunnel mouths that were too large to exist naturally. Only machines and monsters were here and great big piles of sand and gravel. "Are the ore deposits in those piles?" I asked, hoping desperately that I didn't have to deal with digging through them all.

To my relief, Regal shook his head. "The inhibitor ore mining area is deeper into the mine- About an hour's walk from here to there."

An hour. I could deal with that. The others? Maybe not. Poor impatient them.

Walking through the mines would be easy, if there just wasn't so damn many monsters. Oh look, here comes some basilisks and red bats.

Without a word, Lloyd rushed into the currently-non-existent fray swinging. That got the fray into existence. I sighed. Couldn't we have avoided this? But I got out my cleaver anyway, and started backing up Lloyd with some Aeroslicers.

The rest of the two hours passed with Lloyd pretty much fighting everything in his path. Two hours. That's how long it took to fight all of those idiots. Things. They definitely weren't people, were they?

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Leave me alone," Genis grumbled to a red bat that just wouldn't- It had disrupted his spellcasting at least five times. Genis hated close ranged combat, but when everybody else was preoccupied with their own opponents, the half-elf had nobody to hide behind.

He swung his kendama, which made a weird "ba" sound as the ball slammed into one of the red bat's eyes. The bat screeched its displeasure as it wobbled in mid air, and therefore had no chance dodging the next kendama swing when it slammed into the wing instead. The Thunderbolt crackled as it transferred its almost never-ending supply of electricity into the body of the bat, which caused the red bat to looked quite dazed.

Taking the chance, Genis summoned all the mana that he possible could. Just as the red bat started to rise, he shouted "Spread!" and leaped back as the geyser blasted upwards and promptly imploded the bat into pieces from water pressure.

"Thank the gods," Genis gasped, exhausted.

That when a basilisk started slithering toward the young half-elf.

"Dammit," Genis swore, keenly aware that there wasn't enough space for him to launch even a fireball spell- He bet that even if he could, he might be petrified by the sound waves that basilisks could launch. In other words? No spellcasting at this range. Back to square one- Using a kendama.

"Damnation!"

Startled, both the basilisk and the half-elf turned around to witness Kendal leaping towards them both, cleaver ready for the cutting of any kind-

He did it, but it was weak ones he preformed. Not that they weren't effective- The final slash struck right in the eye, causing the basilisk to shriek with pain and wither around.

Without further ado, Genis quickly prepared another spell. "Lightning!" he called, sending a bolt of electricity fall from the middle of nowhere in the air and striking directly onto the basilisk.

This time, there was no cry- The basilisk just lay there, stunned. "Dammit, why did these things have to have skins of rock?" Genis heard Kendal say, and was amazed to see Kendal walk up and just stab through it- He could see just how fast and powerful they were, as they went straight through. Again and again at blurring speeds while blood spilled out.

Finally, it ended. There was only one word for it- Brutal. Deciding not to incur the wrath of the gold-eyed rouge, Genis hurried off to his sister for healing.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Dammit!" I growled as the boulder missed the bacura for yet the _fifth_ time.

We were stuck trying to mow down the bacura that just wouldn't get out of the way- We had used the mana bombs from the Sorcerer's Ring, and I had even tried to blow it up with a "snap" explosion- All had failed. We were now trying to mow down the damned bacura, but it wouldn't stay still and let us hit it with a boulder- It kept going back around the corner the moment the boulder was due to hit it.

Lloyd, huffing from his turns as being the decoy, as the bacura came at us if we tried to go near it (Zelos had experienced getting slapped in the face painfully by it), gasped "What… now? Nothing… can hurt it…"

"We just need to lure it more," I said, frustrated, "But with that?" We already tried to do it with rocks, so we know it has to be a living, breathing thing…" Definitely no chance of getting one of the monsters here to help- None of them even came here, which meant that they were just plain scared of the thing.

So, we were on our own. What to do now? We had been stuck here for the past fifteen minutes, and therefore was getting impatient to move on- The problem was, just how were we going to be able to do that? Jump over it? I almost laughed aloud at the idea. And get bashed to pieces directly afterwards? And what if your foot snagged the edge of the spinning block of highly-concentrated mana? Would you get bashed a million times in your crotch?

And so, the only way was to lure the damned thing and hope that the boulder could actually be rolling fast enough for it to hit the damned thing.

"Can we rest for lunch?" Genis complained, clutching his side. Well, I guess he'd just love to do that, since he was the physically weakest of us all. But hey, we hadn't eaten anything since our oh-so long battle at the door of this damned mine, so all of us said a resounding "yes."

To be exact, Sheena now was the one cooking, since she claimed that she "wanted practice."

Oh well. Her meat stew was great, anyway.

"What do we do now?" Lloyd said between mouthfuls. Regal was busy eating quite gracefully with a shackled pair of hands, I observed. Swallowing, the "kid in red" continued. "What can destroy that bacura thingie?"

"I've got no spells that can do it," Zelos, Raine, and Genis said at the same time. "And if I did," Genis added, "the spell might destroy the entire path, so then what could we do?"

Damn. The bacura just _had_ to be on a narrow path, huh…

A narrow path.

That's when I got the idea.

I stood up suddenly, not caring for the fact that I had full stomach of meat stew. Because, I was going to bet there was only one way to get that damned bacura to stay in the path of the boulder, and most likely the only, and riskiest way.

"I'm going to do it next. You guys hit the switch, but I won't be on that ledge, okay?"

They turned to stare at me. "How… will you dodge the boulder?" Regal said finally, looking doubtfully at me.

I grinning an evil grin. "Just watch."

With that, I took off, hopping over the switch. "Don't hit it until I say so!" I yelled, as I rounded the corner and disappeared from their sight.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Not exactly sure of what to do, Regal stood by the switch, anyway, ready to push it at a moment's notice.

It didn't take long. Kendal came slowly walking around the corner, luring the bacura slowly, ever so slowly so the bacura didn't lose interest in him and therefore would go back to the end of the path., waiting to repeat the-would-be endless cycle.

He kept walking, doing what all the others had done- Luring the bacura to where it would lose interest and therefore go back.

"Step on it!" Kendal yelled, then headed backwards _toward_ the bacura.

The floating, spinning block immediately came back at him, as the rest of the group ran to the nearby ledge that was the only was to dodge the boulder- Or, of course, go down the pathway around the bend, but how were they going to go faster than a boulder? And besides, right now, the path was blocked by both a bacura and a human.

That's when Regal saw something that made the usually-surefooted president stumble.

The rouge leaped right off the ledge, arching his back to the point where his back was a perfect mirror of the whirling surface of the boulder from Regal's point of view. Incredibly, the rouge seemed to hover there, until he started to fall.

By then, huge _crunch_ was echoing through the cavern, which Regal took for the destruction of the bacura.

Suddenly, Regal realized the Kendal, who had thrown himself aside in an arc over the edge of the path that winded around the rock face, was going to fall into one of the many pits that dotted the mine, which was at least fifty feet deep from where they were now. In horror, Regal watched as suddenly-

_Skreeeeeee._

Suddenly, Regal realized that Kendal had, amazingly, kept a cool head and had used the most unlikely tool possible in the situation- His cleaver, He had sunk his cleaver into the rock, which was now screeching as the diamond edge (Regal had seen and felt it for himself) serrated the rock like a hot knife through butter.

Finally, halfway down, he stopped moving downwards. Suddenly realizing that he was stranded in midair against the wall, Regal wasn't prepared for Kendal ripping out his knives, throwing on in his mouth, and jamming his cleaver back in to its sheath on his back (Somehow) and then scrambling up the wall, his arms a blur.

In forty seconds, some twenty-five feet had been climbed- The wall was now littered with slivers and a thin, long scar, which were barely visible but the only proof that somebody had leaped off, slowed himself down with a damned broadsword of all things, and had then climbed back up with a pair of freakin' _daggers_, for all anyone knew.

"Is the bacura destroyed?" Kendal asked. Nobody responded, but Raine, still managing to keep her wits about her through the entire episode, nodded. Nervously, of course.

"Good," he said cheerfully, and started walking down the pathway oh-so recently occupied by an indestructible floating and spinning block.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Amazingly, the mine somehow had a large enough underground source that created a underground water source that had had a flow that rivaled even the River Alumandian that ran by Meltokio.

And so, we marched straight by the roaring, definitely out-of-place waterfall. I mean, how often did stuff like this occur in mines that were, like, half a mile down?

Okay, but it was nice to have the spray of water on your face anyway. Besides, at least the water seemed pure- I tasted the air with my tongue, and it actually seemed the purest water I ever tasted.

The going seemed well for five minutes afterwards until of all things possible, we just _had_ to see a…

"Shit," I said, stopping instantly.

A bacura. Apparently, there were more than just one in the mines, but this one wasn't in our path- It was on a second one that we hadn't gone on yet- We were actually going above that pathway. Besides, Regal had already pointed out that the mining area for the inhibitor ore was on the path we were taking, so…

"Why's a bacura there?" I asked, pointing to it. Regal, taking one glance, said "It was an accident- No more than two should have been created when the mine owners created the bacuras. One of them is now wandering around away from its original duties, the others was the one we just destroyed. Perhaps that is the second one…"

"Did you just say more than two bacuras?" I asked, wondering (And desperately hoping) whether the answer would be no.

"Yes, there are more. I spotted a few while we were going through the main mining area."

Damn. Oh well. At least we didn't have to be forced to destroy them. Forced. That was the magic word.

We marched on. Well no, Lloyd and his dog took the oh-so cruel liberty of Lloyd riding on Noishe's back while the rest of us tromped further and further into the mine. Not that I wanted to ride Lloyd's dog- I really, really preferred to walk. It helped that I was a pretty damned good thief- I could pick up replacement boots at anytime and any where, and besides, there's no sense of accomplishment running miles after miles to your destination.

Finally, we found a bunch of boxes. And even better, no monsters.

"This is the inhibitor ore mining area," Regal announced.

"Aw, are we going to have to go through every one of these!?" Lloyd complained loudly.

"We can just blow them up, nitwit," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Alright!" Lloyd shouted, his eyes gleaming. "We'll just use the Sorcerer's Ring bombs to do it!" Immediately, he ran to the first group of boxes and started dropping (Literally) the bomb.

I groaned, cradling my head with one arm. "Must our unofficial leader be so recklessly stupid?" I moaned as Lloyd ran to here and here, oblivious to the expatriated insults being thrown at him.

Pretty soon, no matter how disorganized or reckless Lloyd's method of finding the ore was, we somehow managed to find a stack of undisturbed crates that when opened displayed…

"This is the inhibitor ore," Regal announced. No duh. What else could replace the gold-ish luster that only inhibitor ore could be capable of producing?

"Okay." Lloyd declared. "It'll take me a while to finish carving the charm, but I can make it."

"Good," I grumbled. "Make it quick, will you?"

The entire process took an hour. We were forced to constantly keep guard for whatever marauding golem or basilisk that might come and stumble on us. Unlucky for them, by the time they actually managed to get close enough, we had already primed five spells and one very painful series of kicks.

Lucky there was plenty, because Lloyd seemed antagonizing slow. Even if he was a nitwit.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Done!" Lloyd said brightly, and jumped to his feet.

Only then did he notice that his crew was sitting down, looking incredibly bored and listless. Genis was playing tag with Colette, the only two that were having fun- The rest? Oh no. They were sitting around, twiddling their thumbs and sharpening their weapons or polishing them.

"What's going on?" Lloyd said, puzzled.

"God," Kendal growled, jumping to his feet, "you just had to take your sweet, sweet time, didn't you?"

"What?" Lloyd asked, confused, as other jumped up, with annoyed looks on their faces. "How long did I work?"

"Lemme guess," Kendal purred venomously, my voice dripping with sarcasm, "Does the figure of an hour ring a bell?"

"An hour?" Lloyd asked, gaping.

Kendal slapped his forehead in frustration. "Is he really this much of a nitwit?" he moaned, directing the question at the others without even looking at them.

Simultaneously, they all nodded. Lloyd felt a blush beginning to creep onto his cheeks, but he held it down. "Um, let's go back to Ozette then!" he said brightly, and ran for the exit. Which was at least a mile away.

I sprinted after him, hoping desperately that he wasn't _that_ much of a nitwit enough to get lost.

* * *

Genis: DAMMIT! 

Me: What?

Genis: WHY ARE TORTURING MY SISTER SO FREAKIN' MUCH!

Me: It's fun.And stop screaming. It's bad for everyone, man.

Genis: NEVER! IN FACT, IF YOU DON'T STOP IT I'LL START SCREAMING TILL YOU GO DEAF AND YOU'LL HAVE TO SEND MY SISTER BACK THROUGH TIME-

Me: I recommend you check the parameters for the game theory matrix you will need to estimate when you can stop screaming. So, shut up.

Genis: ALRIGHT! FINE! (starts doing the matrix)

Me: Smart-ass.

Kendal: How long will it take?

Me: The last time I estimated, infinity.


	37. Downed souls

Damn, I can't believe that I can get away with beginning this at school. Holy crap, school!

Kendal: Err, I think you'd better not say that in Raine's face- She'll start one of her rants. I don't think she'll go in ruin mode, but-

Me: What, she'll go into "Pwner teacher" mode? Right now? How can she?

Kendal: Oh yeah, I forgot- She's going to be sent back in time, isn't she… (evil)

Me: Man, everybody would feel sorry for the infamous psycho teacher known as Raine Sage, but it's for the best.

Lloyd: For the best?

Me: No duh. She needs therapy for her god complex…

Sheena: What's a god complex?

Me: WHAT??? ARE YOU ALL IDIOTS? I'VE BEEN MENTIONING THE WORD FOR LIKE TWENTY CHAPTERS NOW!

Sheena: YOU IDIOT, YOU MENTION IT BUT YOU DON'T TELL US WHAT THE HELL IT IS!

Me: (throws dictionary at her)

Lloyd: Err, the guy who wrote this doesn't own anybody here except Kendal, and doesn't own Tales of Symphonia… Err, yeah… (ducks dictionary)

* * *

At the very least, we didn't have to go through the extravagantness and lengthiness of attempting to destroy another bacura while going through the mines yet again. Because, I was keeping Lloyd on a _very_ leash. 

That is, tripping him every time he attempted to go after a monster. Okay, I let him go after a few, but he just wouldn't stop leaping at every chance he got at killing a red bat or basilisk that came flying, crawling, or slithering his way. Warmonger.

The others, of course, didn't raise a single objection to me and my handling of little, little Lloydie. Obviously, the were just glad they didn't have to fight at every chance they got, and therefore didn't care a bit for how I tripped Lloyd every time he attempted to pull out the Saint Rapier blades that he had found in a chest here. Besides, Lloyd always stumbled but didn't fall flat on his face- Once I tripped him, I pulled him back roughly and shoved him in our general must-travel direction.

That's when Lloyd attempted to find a way into a pit that seemed to be holding a treasure chest. I wasn't for going for it- What if it happened to be an infamous Fake that spat out random dishes and items from nowhere and was somehow immune to everything except elemental damage?

I was worrying about that... Until a irritated voice, high-pitched and squeaky, not scratchy, said "Watch where you're going, idiots!"

I almost fell over with that one, but was stopped from doing that when the same voice yelped "You loser, don't crush me!"

I hopped backwards, straight into Lloyd, who, lacking my sense of balance in instincts, fell over and caused the next person in line, Regal, to fall over and cause the next person in line to fall over, ect ect. Domino effect, man.

So, I started looking around, until, the moment Lloyd behind me opened his mouth to complain- Well everyone, really- I saw something that made me jump back yet _again._

This time, my head knocked into Zelos, who, yelping, hopped back and promptly fell over a pile of rubble, legs straight up. But not before his hand somehow snagged onto on of Sheena's... appendages. Well, yeah.

Bemused by a red-faced Sheena whaling on the poor dude, they turned back and...

They saw the object of my surprise. A little man with a blue pointed hat that was looking at us impatiently.

"You losers have any potion?"

We simply stared at it, until Lloyd broke the silence by stating the obvious- "Wow, it talks."

No _duh_.

"I've been traveling around to eat some potion. You losers have any?"

At that moment, I was thinking that this guy with the attitude problem didn't know just how well each of us could kick this guy to the moon on this dimension. But when he said the horrible grammar involving potions, I fell over and started rolling around, howling.

Okay, so that might have been worth a chuckle or two. But it seemed that the weirdest sense of humor belonged to me, because I was now thinking of the... thing... was so small and stupid. Amazingly.

I looked up (After making sure I hadn't busted any stitches in my side) and found everybody staring at me, with looks akin to hungry wolves.

Then I realized what it was. The thingie had mentioned potion. Each of them had seen my carry those Mizuho potions. So...

"NOOO!" I howled, backpedaling to the edge of the pit we were in. "I'M NOT GONNA GIVE UP MY MIZUHO POTIONS! I'D RATHER DIE THAN BE FORCED TO GIVE UP EVEN ON OF MY PRECIOUS, MY SWEET, PURPLE POTION THAT-"

The next five minutes passed with me ranting about the joys of Mizuho potions, but it didn't work. Finally conceding defeat, I handed it over and watched sullenly as the thing just went ahead and... well, eat the bottle and them comment about how it tasted like nothing.

Little bastard. He didn't know anything of the joys of drinking sweet things, did he...

Needless to say, we made it out in a few hours to the initial doorway, thanks to my mourning of the loss of one of utensils of joy. Well, I actually did let Lloyd start a few fights, but other than that? Hell to the no. I did _not_ want to have to deal with hundreds upon hundreds of damned beasts on my back.At the very least, I managed to get the depressing thought out of me...

"Damn, we're running of exspheres!" A fat guy was saying by the entrance. "If I can't get some out o' this damn mine, I'm gonna go-"

"Vharley!" Regal's voice thundered.

Vharley? Oh wait a minute…

_Isn't he the exosphere broker?_

No duh he was. He was instantly recognizable- A mohawk of brown hair, green clothes. And, as he almost always did, he had a pair of bodyguards with him. All armed with exspheres, of course.

"Regal!? Ah-ha! You must be the one who destroyed the guard system!" Vharley crowed.

"I… I thought that the Pope imprisoned you!" Regal growled. "Why are you here, free!?"

While Lloyd got some background info about this obese guy, I was beginning to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Vharley was an exsphere broker. He was supposed to e here looking for exspheres. Which meant that this mine…

"Haha!" Vharley laughed. "Do you really think the Pope would agree to a deal with a murderer!? You were supposed to capture Colette, but now you've joined them!"

This guy was really starting to get on my nerves, so I stepped forward. "Since when did our-oh-so holy Pope start allying themselves with criminals?" I asked sarcastically.

I really wondered why Regal had such a… regal way of saying things, so, just who was he before he was a criminal? And, just how did Vharley, scum as he was, know him?

"What the-" Vharley gasped, paling. The two guys with him took _huge_ steps back. "How the-"

"If the Pope shall not hold his part of the promise, then I'll punish you myself!" Regal growled, and started forward.

My appearance, coupled with a very, _very_ vengeful looking guy stalking towards them was enough to pretty much get anybody scared. "N-no way!" Vharley shouted, backing up surprisingly fast for an obese person such as himself. "I'm getting out of here!"

He turned, and yes, he ran surprisingly fast for a fat person.

Immediately, we rounded up on Regal. "Regal, how do you know him?"

"He called you a murderer," Colette said, whose voice was amazingly subdued this time around.

"I am a criminal serving time in prison for the crime of murder," Regal said bluntly. Just like that. Well, well, mister candid.

That's all we could do. Stare at him. Well, not me. I just tapped my foot for him to go further into the rather touchy subject. Well, hell, brutal but necessary, eh?

"It's alright if you look down on me."

Yeah, right. Like Lloyd would look down on anybody. Immediately, the one and only stepped forward. "I've commit acts like that. It cost other people," Lloyd said quietly. "With their lives, just like you. But I won't look down on you. I know the pain of that."

"I don't exactly know how to say it," Colette said, biting her lip, "But I think that in ourselves, a goddess named consciousness resides in very one of us. If you pray to her enough-" Whatever that meant- "You will find forgiveness."

Ah. Forgiveness. But how do you deal with my case, of something from a millennia ago, when you had to deal with something on your shoulders for so long it was a part of you?

Regal was mute the rest of the way out.

So was I, but for completely different reasons. For some of them, I was thinking about how nice of an experience that being with them was turning out to be. Reencounters with Yuan and Kratos, who were usually secluded within Derris-Kharlan. Or, in Yuan's case, the Flanior or Triet Renegade bases.

Otherwise, I was thinking of all the moral issues that I thought were dead, sleeping in me. I had thought that it was so useless to think about most of the stuff being brought up constantly with these guys, like how you dealt with killing people for example. To me, having my moral alarm turned off was a element to myself, as my profession heavily involved killing- In this type of business, you just couldn't feel any remorse, could you?

But now, with these guys actually trying to deal with it when I had given up with the mother-lode of moral dilemmas- the total, purposeful killing off at least five hundred living beings. You just couldn't deal with that, at least in my views.

But, if Lloyd really had caused a massacre, (Well, maybe he hadn't done it, but still) and he had a personality that was still standing throughout himself, not just on the outside, what could I compare? Maybe he was secretly offering prayers to their souls, the ones who died as a way of assuaging the guilt. Perhaps I should, but how? That had been a case that was supposedly closed a thousand years ago. Tightly.

And plus, hatred at Yuan. Mithos. Kratos. Feelings that were so indistinguishable from myself that now, I had no clue what would my current mindset might be like if I had never obsessed myself with them. Supposedly, it seemed only logical that'd I'd be far different.

Supposedly. That was the magic word. To be sure, I raged at myself often, when I was alone, with myself and maybe a pathetic monster or two. And…

Maybe, sometimes if I let myself just let go, I cried.

* * *

Me: God, this hefty SOB that occupied half a week. Hopefully, I can rest easy now… 

Kendal: Man, this caused you that much stress?

Me: I wouldn't be smiling…

Kendal: Why-y?

Me: You'll be in insomnia next chapter.

Kendal: NUUUUUUU!!!

Genis: (jumps out with big-ass Pow Hammer) I'VE GOT YOU NOW-

Kendal: (starts running around) WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY SO UNFAIR WHY WHY WHY WHY

Me: Oh, wait a minute…

Genis: (misses and falls) AHHH!!! MY KNEE!!! OWWWWWW!!!

Me: And Raine Sage is still in yet another coma. With researchers going ape over her. D


	38. Insomniac

Me: I'm going to apologize for having such a short chapter last time- I was in brain lock, so now I think I can manage another long chapter. Or, should I stick with short ones…? (sweatdrop)

Kendal: So, now for reviewer abusiation time!

Me: Alright, so- WHAT???????

Kendal: Huh?

Me: DID YOU JUST SAY WHAT I THINK YOU SAID, LITTLE BOY???

Kendal: WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!

Me: DID YOU JUST SAY I'D ABUSE MY REVIEWERS???

Kendal: YES I DID!

Me: (mauls)

Kendal: DAMN YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!

Now, back to business, ignoring this idiot. (Kendal: (dirty look) It was joke, SOB….)

And, no, anything that pokes fun of reviewers is never a joke. ;D

Liana Uchiha: Ah, yes, buddy. Thanks for everything, including sparking (Unintentionally) some ideas for my skits. XD

Killerbunbun: Ahh, yes, friend. Thanks for the support. The mauling will only be more intense with you around. :D

DragonofTwilight: Ah, yes. Hello, Dragy (Mind if I call you that?). Thanks for all the support you've poured on me. Man, you're half my motivation for writing this! XD

Mandrakefunnyjuice: Ahh, yes. The reviewer with the funniest name. Who, apparently is addicted to my oh-so humble story that I've wrote. Addicted? Man, this gives me inspiration that some people out there can really speak their hearts out. That's you, by the way. ;D

* * *

It's funny, but somehow, my body followed the same course of my mind- It stayed awake, with my musings that otherwise would have been better spent in sleep. 

By the time morning had broken, my joints, aching from no chances to rest, were ringing alarm bells that wouldn't turn. I knew, I shouldn't have wasted all that time, but it was something I just couldn't ignore. Or was that me making a pathetic excuse?

I heard footsteps, and yawning. Somebody was up already? I checked the skyline. The sky was purple, which meant that it was about to be seven in the morning. Strange. Who normally woke up this hour?

As it turned out, it was Genis, in his (I had to stare) bunny pajamas.

"What?" Genis said sharply, the sleepy look gone from him in an instant. To my surprise, my only reaction was to burst out laughing.

I laughed so hard, I guess, I woke up everyone, who came rushing out of their sleeping bags! "Ahhhhhhh!!!" they shouted, weapons drawn, and with very,_very_ wild hair.

The sight of the group that had just received pillowheads only made me laugh even harder, to the point where tears were streaming down my cheeks. The could only stare at me stupidly, until my rampant laughter died down. Not to say it died down quickly- Instead, it died down in about five minutes, till I was sure I had a stitch in my side that might not close for days.

When I got up, I found five boys and girls staring at me stupidly. "What?" I asked, irritated. "Oh," I added, when I remembered what I had been laughing about in the first place, "And those pajamas look good on you, Genis."

Immediately, Genis turned bright red as everybody looked at him. "These… these… I…" Genis stuttered into silence while everybody stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"Genis," Raine said carefully, smoothing her much frizzled hair that seemed reminiscent of how it had been when I had taken my joy ride yesterday "Why are you wearing those? You wore those out years ago."

"I like bunnies!"

The moment he said that, his eyes rolled back into his head and the poor boy fainted.

A silence. Then Raine turned bright red just like her brothers when she realized everyone, including me, was holding back silent laughter. Immediately, she stiffly picked up her drooling brother and ran back to his tent. No doubt to change him into a much less ridiculous outfit.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd held back a fit of chuckles in respect for his teacher, until of course she was out of earshot.

Then, everybody collapsed into a load of high-pitched giggles that forced them to kneel. The most rancorous laughs were from Colette, whose high-pitched carried all the way to Genis's tent, where Raine and her unconscious brother were- Hearing it made her perk up as she rummaged through her brother's cramped backpack in futile search for his normal blue clothes. Which were by his bedside, but she wasn't about to know that in her flustered state.

"So," Lloyd asked, what was that all about?

"I woke up early. Guess I was lucky. You seriously never saw Genis and his pink bunny pajamas?" was Kendal's answer. Slash question.

The group fell down. Literally.

**VWVWVWVWV**

It came as a surprise to the others when I didn't step up to drive the EC- They thought for sure that I'd go ahead and volunteer, given that I laughed the hardest when Raine spazzed out. Always.

So, Lloyd got to be the driver this time, given that nobody else had the guts to attempt Kendal's trick with the steering. Of course, the rouge in question, that is, me, hopped over to the back, where nobody would see me take a nap- I only needed a few hours of peace. Just a few hours, and we'd reach Ozette, and be welcomed to beds and the welcome body function that was sleep.

Oh course, with Lloyd having been mesmerized by my mad anti-half-elf antics, I couldn't be sure of anything, really- I didn't get more than an hour of sleep, when Raine somehow became my savior angel and demanded Lloyd stop or she would maul him to an oh-so convenient hell named Raine Sage. Loud smacks would await him, it seems.

Zelos, being the pervert he was, attempted to lift up the lower hem of Raine's orange coat. Bad move- He did it within full sight of Sheena. Immediately, the EC was filled with loud smacks, squeals, and screams of how violent banshees were dangerous and wild enough to harm the masculine and so very handsome Zelos.

No. No, _duh_.

And, so that kept me from being knocked from well-deserved sleep for an hour and a half. That was nice, or maybe I shouldn't have bothered, just keep plowing through without the nap.

Because? Well…

**VWVWVWVWV**

A much calmer Raine without the pillowhead got off the pier, unlike the last ending to their previous trip.

And as well as a well-bruised Zelos that winced every time he smiled flirtatiously at Colette.

The redhead, wincing with the effort to keep from falling on his face given an unlucky bruise inflicted on him via the angry hand of Sheena Fujibayashi on the thigh. And, so now, he was limping along as Lloyd immediately ran off to fight a few giant insects that came their way (Kendal didn't seem to be in a mood to have reign over Lloyd's monster hunting addiction), both Zelos and Kendal were left there. The only ones.

They blinked at each other (The secret angel noting with interest that the rouge's eyes were slightly puffy) and just stared while the sounds off battle began to rage across the surrounding area.

"What?" Kendal said mildly.

"Uh, nothing, little boy," Zelos said snidely. He was sure that as an adult, and being an inch or so taller than Kendal's already formidable 5' 11" gave him a slight edge in this type of situation.

Not a chance. "Oh, yeah, that's right, m'dear cross-dresser, pervert, and sex slave to the one woman who beats you. Oh yes, I imagine she wants you to insert your-"

"I AM NOT A SEX SLAVE!"

"YES YOU ARE!"

The minute-long shouting match scared away all monsters and birds in a three mile range. Lloyd came back to them, terrible disappointed as the monsters they were fighting were scared off. Why did they start yelling at each other, anyway? It was so disappointing to not try out his new Saint Rapiers. He wanted to kill a few of those annoying Boxer Irises for giving him the black eyes.

Unfortunately, for the next two hours or so, nothing would go right for the not-very-bright brunette. And no, no Boxer Iris killing.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I had never been so frickin' glad to see the lights of Ozette.

I hated it, to be sure, but right now any place on my most hated list that had a bed was on my most-loved list currently. That was how much sleep was gnawing at my mind.

"I'll be gone," I muttered to them as I ran off. My fleeting glance sees their momentary surprise before they yelled their consent, which I didn't need anyway, as I race up the hill that supports most of Ozette's structure.

Unlucky for me, though, just five minutes later and a mile away (Hey, I couldn't make a minute mile, but doing it in two and a half minutes is definitely comparable) and fifteen meters from the top, I just _had_ to encounter a Tropical Worm and two Ghouls.

"Damn you," I growled at them, irritated, and flicked off an Aeroslicer that promptly connected with the arm of the undead creature and went straight through- As an undead, it had little to no mana flowing through its non-existent veins, making cutting through them as easy as, say, saying that Zelos was a pervert.

Well, maybe it did have veins that went through it, as black blood sprayed out, but hey, that didn't make up for the fact that there was little mana in its veins.

Immediately, the other ghouls, two of them, began staggering towards me while tropical worm rolled itself up in a ball and, with a burst of speed, barreled towards me.

Perfect.

I just thrusted my cleaver, tip-first, at it, making its midsection go straight through the diamond and then the metal when it came in range. I almost fell down from the force of the worm's momentum, but the damage was done- As a ghoul took a swipe at me, I swung my broadsword with the flailing worm at it- The swipe went straight into the soft, fleshy body of the worm, drawing another round of thrashing that made it difficult to hold my blade in my current state.

I jerked the worm aside wish a right horizontal slash- I had no need for a meat shield now. The worm flew straight off the blade and landed with a thump on its back. Merging the motion with a spin of my body and me stepping forward, the edge went through the ghoul's arm and became embedded in the body.

I jumped back as the ghoul attempted to recover from having one of its tools of destruction ripped off its arm. The other two ghouls, the one with no wounds and the one with one arm missing, surrounded me as they put on an amazing burst of speed. For them, anyway.

"Bingo," I muttered, and jumped at the humanoid dead to my front. "Blade Rocket!" I called out, dragging straight up with me the ghoul unlucky to be in front of me with a well-placed kick to the chest cavity. Well, where it was supposed to be anyway. Twenty feet up, I flipped over completely and went into a downward spiral. _Slish, slish slish slish._ Every one of the slashes connecting.

I slammed the ground, flipping over yet again, and watched in satisfaction as the ghoul was blasted away, this time in little gray bits, as its comrade staggered, assaulted by the spiral cutting winds that were stirred up by my rapid descent.

I heard a slithering behind me, and turned to see who had made the house call. What do ya know. That stubborn tropical worm was the one coating the soft ground with slime as it crawled laboriously towards me (No wonder why, given its large wound that looked like a slit from here and was leaking out green pus). No problems- I simply gave it a Dual Dominating Blade and shredded it to bits before it used its extendable feelers to start the stabfest.

Behind me, the ghoul moaned as it staggered towards me. Waiting till the last moment, I leaped out of the way of two quick swipes that would have created a sizable would on my arm, given that the scars where the mantis had stabbed me with a few days ago was still in the final process of healing- You have to wait a few days, since even with my healing rate, nobody can ignore penetration that goes right to the bone.

When the undead was finishing its wild spinning motion, it was pretty much doomed, with one arm and the fact that it was way too slow for me.

"Damnation," I said calmly, as immediately the ghoul was enveloped in a tempest of blurring slashes. Needless to say, no chance. Namely because I flicked up the blade with an Aeroslicer and gave it the beheading treatment.

"Good," I muttered, stumbling slightly from the muscle fatigue, and threw myself over the edge of the hill and jammed the blade in the soft, fleshy wall of dirt that supported the structure of Ozette.

I spotted a root that signaled a money stash I had hidden for more than a year now- It was somewhere around a million gald, nabbed from the theft of the late 50th Pope of Tethe'Alla. Thankfully, the old geezer was also in the middle of having a heart attack, so there was no problem as I swiped the diamond-encrusted crown before hightailing it out of there while everyone was in the middle of inspiring one hell of a load of pure chaos.

And that's how I got the million. Not that I needed it- I had loads of other storage sites with half a million or more. But hey, money is money, right? So, I sold it on the black market in Meltokio (Hey, people who trade illegal stuff don't give a damn about religion and all that fake stuff crap) and strutted out of there with a cool seven-digiter.

I somehow got a feeling that I'd never see this stash unless I withdrew it right now, which wasn't exactly unfounded- Hell, I was left with only a measly 300,000 gald. In other words, crap. So, I just crawled over to the root with the help of my daggers, and dropped that sack in my supply pack before I continued dropping down, and started a well deserved nap.

As it turned out, I wouldn't. Because? Of a scene and an arms races between a group of seven and a bunch of weird guys in green armor. Well, the green armor guys already sucked in weapons, but then again, what are armories for, then?

* * *

That's chapter 38 to all you readers, folks. Happy reading-(insert music note thingie) 

And sorry for the long wait. Recently, I've gotten into a barrage of trouble from school, so groundings galore. ;w;


	39. The sadistic bladesman

Darn. I can't believe my stupid splint (As of 11/13/07) is preventing me from typing at all…

Kendal: So, why ARE you typing this???

Me: Espionage, man, seriously.

Kendal: Sneaking around??? More likely you're lying to somebody…

Me: (sulks) Damn you. Yes, I am…

Genis: (leaps out, grabs Kendal) I'VE GOT YOU NOW!

Me: Err… What?

Kendal: What's the little idiot doing humping me?

Genis: SHUT UP! I AM NOT HUMPING ANYBODY! Anyway, return my sister NOW or you guys die.

Me: (rolls eyes) Author powers time. ULTIMA!

Genis: (assaulted by one of the most pwnage and perhaps cheapest spell in the history of Final Fantasy) AHHHHH!!! WHAT THE HELL??? DAMN, THAT HURT! I'LL GET YOOOOOOUUUU!!!!!! (runs)

Kendal: Where'd you get that?

Me: I stole the materia from-

Cloud: WHO TOOK MY MATERIA???

Me: Crap. And I don't own this game that this story bases on, nor do I own Cloud Strife.

* * *

As it turned out, I was treated indirectly to a very rude awakening at the hands of two little men in green and a hothead teenager with clothes to match the hothead part. 

And so, I'm taking a nap with dreams of nice, comfy white beds and suddenly, there's a bit of swearing that jars my unconsciousness slightly into the realm consciousness. Of course, that's just slightly, but hey, that was a start. The bad kind.

Then, a yell of "What the hell! Goddess, why don't you guys fight fairly!?" It sounded pained.

That _really_ got my attention. Who fought dirty besides me? I cracked open an eye as the obvious answer flashed into my mind- Why, the most evil organization ever, A.K.A. the Papal Knights.

I rolled over to the edge of the armor shop's building, and cracked open my left eye to survey the scene below.

Well, maybe I should have done this thing on the opposite end of the spectrum- whip out my cleaver, and jump off the roof and into a portal to hell as if I cared. Because, I screamed "WHAT THE FU-!"

Why? Because, Lloyd somehow had his underwear (White, just to be sure) hanging out of the edge of his suspenders. All the other members of the group were staring stupidly at the teen as he jumped around, attempting to stuff his underpants back into his dark blue trousers.

Oh, and his face was the approximately the same shade of red as a tomato.

The Papal Knights were busy laughing their asses off at the embarrassed teen, which was lucky for the others as they would have been dead by now if they hadn't found such a situation so amusing. I think the Papal Knight who did it was a drunken one- I could tell because that certain knight was wobbling around. Besides, he was laughing like a classic drunk, anyway.

When I yelled my obscenity, the good guys immediately snapped out of their stupor and started attacking again, and thankfully Lloyd finished jamming his boxers in. I would have just fainted if he had been wearing tidy-wideys at the moment.

Unfortunately, my distraction also knocked the Papal Knights out of their nice long fit of hilarity. They started to bring up their weapons (Halberds, it looked like- Sharper, much more presentable than the dull silvery shade of the poleaxes that we had seen back in the Gaoracchia Forest) as I rolled back to my original spot of resting.

I was going to sit up and whip out my blade if I hadn't realized that suddenly, my bones were crying out for me to take a nice, long ten hour sleep. But I couldn't. My brain and my blood just wouldn't let me. I was, for heaven's sake, bred to be a weapon that didn't need to stop.

So I silenced the chorus of protesting voices inside myself, and stood. From the spot I had, I had enough a of a view over the lip of the building so that I could start doing some long range devastation.

I closed my eyes, and somehow saw the enemy as only figures that had heartbeats and appendages. They were nothing to me. I started building my supply of mana as I selected a target- One in orange-yellow armor, the commander.

I searched my arsenal. Ah. A Razing Twister would be good enough. I indiscreetly hopped over behind the others while I lifted my cleaver above me and began to twirl it at incredible speeds. Hopefully, my little friends wouldn't get caught up by it.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Sword Rain: Alpha!" Lloyd shouted. One-two-three-four-six-nine thrusts, each of them connecting, which finished with an extravagant skyward slash that sent the Papal Knight he was facing sprawling.

Lloyd suddenly heard the whooshing of a halberd. Immediately, he threw up his Shidens in a block. Sizzling, the halberd glowed with the electricity conducted before it faded away and its owner jumped back.

"Sonic Thrust!" the brunette yelled, and threw a thrust that ripped through the air, causing the guard to skid ten feet away. That, however, didn't stop the pain. A twin burst of energy, thanks to a Double Demon Fang the brunette.

"Light Spear!" Zelos shouted, and spun upward through the air, hacking through the green armor and ripping it off for the parts he couldn't. Finally, he thrust into the warrior in the chest, managing to half-pierce the chestbone as he fell to earth, clutching at his chest.

"Move!"

The call came as Raine shouted "Photon!"

An enemy behind the already-wounded foe was suddenly assaulted by a converging series of light blasts that crushed the armor and flesh at high pressure before it exploded, sending the guy careening right behind the wounded dude. At the same time, another Papal Knights jumped behind _him_, in an attempt to dodge an Eruption spell cast by Genis.

Syzygy. Usually referring to a lineup of heavenly bodies, but when earthly bodies are involved…

"Razing TWISTER!" Came the roar as behind Lloyd a cyclone roared to life. Immediately, Lloyd glanced behind, and almost peed in his pants.

Who wouldn't, if you were all of a sudden confronted with a huge tornado that was bearing down on you?

Finally coming to his senses, only a foot away from the spell's "event horizon," the area where the earliest winds would hold full sway on a person's movements, forcing them to endure the column of cutting winds rushing at them.

Unfortunately, the guards, who like Lloyd had no idea how the spell worked, didn't have the luck of Lloyd to get out of the "event horizon." One after the others, they rose up, slowly in the air, being pummeled and slashed at high speeds. A constant _slish slish slish _filled the air, mingling with the roaring of the winds as they bore forward.

Soon, all three of the knights were caught up in the cyclone as it charged ahead. It's first victim, the first one to be dropped and therefore the first in its path, dropped down limply, dead from everything the guy couldn't take. Even if he did have an exsphere on.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I dropped the cleaver from the mid air position I had left it in from launching the twister, breathing hard- Even if this spell didn't take too much effort, everything right now did. Not a good situation, considering that we had only taken out two of them, given that the second guy in line to be slashed to hell really did go to hell.

Two down. About fifteen more to go.

Maybe fourteen and a half- The third guy to be caught up in the cyclone came down in a heap of blood and dizziness. Compound the fact he was caught up when he was caught in an Eruption spell, and you have burns as well. Maybe his body was one huge burn from all that lava that had now turned the twister a fiery red. Good luck to the house that was next.

Immediately, the knights started yelling "Crap! The Ravager's with them!?" and shouts of "Crud, how are we gonna get outta here alive!?"

I grinned viciously. Impressions mattered, didn't they?

I jumped up and threw a hack into the side of a panicking guard- Immediately, he howled and tried to bat me away from him. Well, it didn't work- I started sawing with the blade, digging it so deep and resulting with so much pain that he dropped the halberd and started crying, for cryin' out loud, crying.

Finally, I ripped out the blade and blocked a thrust by the commander who had apparently just witnessed his second-in-command bleed to death. I quickly aimed a kick for his shins- Armored or not, they're still the most ridiculously vulnerable spot on the body for pain beside the crotch. The guy howled, hopping on one foot as he dropped his weapon and clutched at his horribly hurtin' shin.

Easy shot, right there with his back turned. "Drop Dragon," I said almost casually. The resulting burst of blue mana struck right on the neck, snapping his spine.

I landed, then I picked up the halberd and threw it, point first into the solar plexus of a Papal Knight who was charging at me. He looked down, stunned, then just fell backwards.

I quickly turned and parried a slash by somebody who had attempted to sneak behind me- Slipping to the side while the edge whistled an inch past my ear, I quickly switched the hilt's direction in my cleaver so that I held it out and pointed it backwards. "Wolf fang!" I shouted, and plunged it straight backwards as my blade was bathed in a white light.

It didn't go through him, but it did send him flying into another trio of SOBs who were rushing me.

Quickly, while they were in a pile on the ground, I yelled "Dominating Blade!" and enveloped them all in a shockwave that pretty much eroded at them. Send flying, the landed in yet another heap. Which let me nail them with a Fury Damnation while they struggled to get their bearings.

I quickly threw my blade in front of me, then I wound it behind my right shoulder.

Power. Mana. Gathering in the front edge in a volume so concentrated, just like an Aeroslicer.

But this? This was far superior. Far faster, with a far better cutting edge.

"SUPERSLICER!" I roared, and unwound my arm, letting it swing behind and slam into the ground behind me.

The soft, light blue glow that had surrounded the edge like a halo immediately snapped away and formed rippling crescent the moved like a ghost, just straight through the air.

And, a half second later, through flesh as both the air and the shockwave's edge slammed into them. Normally, an Aeroslicer's ability to slice through living things is inhibited by the natural flow of mana in its victim's body, but Superslicers? Well, they moved so fast, that meant nothing. Unless you counted beings with more mana than anything else in the world. It moved straight through two of them, blowing their halved remains apart, off into the air. The third guy was carried away.

What a weird sight- A man in green armor being borne through the air by superfast soft blue curve of… Something. Oh well. Sooner or later, the Superslicer would disperse, but before that, the edge would cut through him and leave his remains to be scattered by the turbulence that always developed in its wake.

Well, to be exact, I couldn't exactly say that Superslicers were the true last word in killing people- As the sonic boom faded away, I remembered in even my fatigued state that the more a person is wounded, the less mana there is in the body as excess of it flows out through wounds. So, even the edge of Superslicers could possibly dissipate without killing whoever I aimed at.

Like the person on my number-one-to-kill list, Mithos Yggdrasil.

I turned, and discovered everybody else was slaughtering the ten remaining knights. Well no, now ten, I observed, as Regal gave a (Literally) knockout with a drop kick to the temple, followed by a Rising Dragon that caught the poor guy right on the chin.

I swear, that _had_ to have knocked out all the teeth in his jaws.

I gave a yelling guy who had just noticed me lip service with a punch to the jaw with my gauntlet. It smashed through the flimsy helmet and met skin and bone with a sharp _crack_. Full power, and it completely smashed his lower jaw and even crushed some of the teeth in his upper jaw. I topped the icing on the cake with a right hook that caught the guy in the eye, sending him sprawling.

As he fell back, I congratulated myself for knocking out the guy in two blows (Even if he did have an exsphere on, bone and flimsy helmets so as hell do _not_ compete with speeding fists and rock-hard gauntlets) and was going to call it a day when something jabbed at me from the left. Which happened to be sharp and hit its mark.

It burrowed all the way through one of the penetration scars from a few days ago, the ones that had gone straight to the bone. In addition to hurting like hell, it became lodged in my arm, and therefore hurt even _more_ when the guy tried taking it out. I thrashed once, then again, but I refused to scream as I leaned over, snagged the edge of the blade with my teeth, and pulled it out of the guy's reach, jumping back as to not risk myself nicking the bone.

I swung my head upwards, and ripped it out in one motion.

The pain made me stumble for a few seconds, letting the guy rush up and take back the halberd I dropped in my moments of weakness.

I looked at the gaping, reopened wound, then at the bloodstained halberd.

This person didn't deserve a fast death by decapitation. This guy deserved pain. Lots of it.

I took a sideways dive at the bastard, twisting myself so I faced him as I sped towards him like a ghost. Everything seemed to go silent, as if the entire world was awaiting my bloody punishment. There even seemed to be a funeral organ playing at the back of my head.

I slammed into him shoulder-first, sending both of us sprawling. I sprang to my feet, snatched up his weapon, and jammed it into the shoulder.

The shoulder part of any suit of armor is a weak spot, obviously, since it's located by the joint, so I had no trouble seriating through it. Through the flesh, maybe not. I managed to get through an inch before I had to stop, but that was all the length I needed. More importantly, I had jammed it right between the joint.

I let it go, but then shoved it almost casually barehanded.

_Pop. _

The knight's eyes behind the grille went wide as he felt what imagined a sudden lack feeling in his shoulder. And then…

Pain hit him. He started to thrash around in pain, and almost got away from me before I stepped forward and lashed out with a stomp to the side of his face. He immediately collapsed on the ground, stunned for the moment.

Good. All the time I needed. I slammed the halberd into his other shoulder (Doing it with my cleaver was not an option- Once it was past the armor, it would even seriate through the flesh of an exsphere equipped person, thanks to that damned diamond edge, even easier thanks to the fact it was at a joint) and repeated the procedure. This time, the guy didn't thrash- He was still disoriented from that kick I gave him. Oh well.

I flipped him over with a kick, and bent down and pressed a pressure point on his neck. Coming to himself from the pain, he jerked up- Then started thrashing. Again.

Deciding it was best to give the guy slow and steadily increasing amounts of pain, I hacked off his right arm with my cleaver, obviously- The metal edge of the halberd wouldn't even come close to comparison with the sharpness of a diamond edge. A finely crafted one, to say the least.

He screamed, silencing and freezing everyone in their tracks. He would have started thrashing again, if I hadn't jammed the halberd with so much force that the head snapped in his side. Well, there went my plans of more joint dislocation, but the shaft and head which was still together but broken (Felt the shock which was so strong it just _had_ to have snapped when I thrusted it) had effectively pinned him down. He thrashed, but apart from quivering, the halberd stayed where it was, firm in the ground.

I left the guy there, to die in agony. I just walked away, with dead eyes. I didn't bother looking back. There was nothing there but the rapidly fading life of one bastard which had been so much of an annoyance.

* * *

The update comes as I just got a Wii. Yay! D Thanks for being patient, readers for the long wait. 


	40. Knockout

Let the 40th chapter of this story commence!

Genis: (jumps out) GET MY SISTER BACK FROM THE PAST RIGHT NOW OR I'LL-

Kendal: (runs into Genis) Sorry I'm late. Oh, wait a minute…

Genis: UGH! WHY CAN'T I BLACKMAIL YOU???

Kendal: What? He's at it again? I though the game matrix and everything would cause him to stop raising the howl about his dear big sister.

Genis: LIKE YOU'VE EVER HAD A SISTER!!!

Kendal: No wonder the poor woman slaps you around… Anyway, the author doesn't own anything concerning Namco or a nerd named Genis Sage.

Me: Oh, and by the way, I DO own what I can do to the guy here. (dropkicks him to Okeefenokee)

Genis: (flying away) AHHHH!!! NOOOO!!! I'LL GET YOOOUUUuuuu…..

Me: Did we hear something?

Everyone: (shakes head)

* * *

A silence had fallen on Ozette, which I only noticed after I realized that approximately five hundred people were staring at me, classic openmouthed-ness. 

I almost shivered at the silence (I hated silent places, ghost towns and the likes), so I gave a sarcastic "Nice to know that everybody watches my life. Now get on with your own."

Immediately, the whole world exploded with clanks, yells, hissing, a random sound from the latest spell Genis had thrown at them, and thuds as armored bodies met the earth.

Back to business. But first things first, such as treating the gaping wound on my left arm which happened to let you see bone. I threw my cleaver handle to my teeth, snagging it with the white instruments of eating that had stayed white for the last millennia, and with my now-free hand grabbed a lemon gel.

The wound began to buzz as I squeezed out half of the gooey substance in its soft packaging, then I tossed the rest of the healing (albeit sour, which I hated and made me scrunch up my face as I forced it down) into my mouth. I looked down, and sure enough, the wound had already closed, leaving only a scar of sore red scabs where a gaping hole in my arm had been.

In the next five seconds, it was healed, save a small red scar that most likely would never heal after I peeled off the scabs in its exact center. Oh well. That would join the hundreds of scars I bore, not all of them visible or obvious- Just a few white blotches here, an indention there. This would join one of the visible ones- My back, where five hundred names were etched permanently in my back, and my chest, which had huge blotches of transparent red skin along with the similar patch on my right hand.

Spotting a rather battered Papal Knight attempting to backstab Genis, I sprinted at him. Like, I suddenly became an unreal blur that was brown, had flares of gold on its indistinct appendage one would often take for a head, and with a glittering thing that you just couldn't place.

Not that I would actually use that "thing" when dispatching this guy. By the time I was ten feet from him and coming, I had his attention and was turning my body sideways, all while leaning my torso backwards.

It looked as if I was sliding towards him on my right foot with my corresponding side turned at the guy, while lifting the other one and leaning dangerously backwards. As I neared five feet from him, I quickly shoved off with my left leg that was still on the ground, and swung my right foot around.

I lifted off as my right leg drove my entire body around. Speeding by the Papal Knight, who was now staring stupidly at me-

Well, no, I didn't_just _speed by. As I did, my right foot, already going much faster then I could ever go sprinting, slammed into the base of the knight's skull. A resounding crack resonated through the village as my right leg shuddered, then came free. Righting myself in the air, I slammed down and skidded for a few meters before I stopped.

Looking back, I watching in satisfaction as the dead dude shuddered for a moment, and then fall over. Dead, well and truly.

Looking around, I saw Genis cast the spell that he had been casting while the guy I had just dispatched had attempted to get a good shot at him-

_What the-_

"GROUND DASHER!"

I felt my jaw go loose as the earth under two of out opponents began to glow through cracks- And then a loud _crnnnnshkkkk _as the earth around them erupted jets of unrelenting superhot rocks that represented the rage of the earth the Genis had cultivated and then unleashed.

When it was finished, the armor the victims wore looked like it had gone through a lifetime of crashing through the murkiest swamps possible. Mud coated the armor, which looked as if the pieces would fall off at any moment.

"Victory Light Spear!" Zelos yelled, who had sneaked behind both of them and rose up to the air in a spiral- Sort of like an inverted, gravity-defying Blade Rocket.

Then, he sliced the air with a slash that finished the final spin he preformed, ripping open huge gashes on the sides of the two knights and sending them flying. Landing with heavy, clanking thuds, their armor promptly burst apart from the impact while they just lay there, still as their blood spilled out.

Looking around, I saw to my surprise all of them were officially down. Whistling, I asked them all as a whole as my adrenaline died down "Why the heck were you guys hiding all that kick-ass stuff, man?"

They all looked at each other before looking at me. "Uh," Lloyd mumbled, "I just… Well, it's all self-taught and stuff…"

That made my mouth drop open even more. "Damn, you invented those moves?" I asked incredulously as I remembered the kid in red doing all those Raging Beast techniques, which I hadn't seen in years. Well, no, I had never seen this _variation_ before.

"Holy crap," I mumbled to myself, as everyone looked at each other for wounds and such.

"We managed to beat them," Lloyd said, as Raine cast Nurse on everyone else with injuries.

"It's my fault, everyone. I'm so sorry…"

We all turned to our blond-in-residence. "It's not your fault, Colette!" Lloyd said in an expatriated tone, as if he had dealt with this before.

"Who're you kidding?" Zelos asked incredulously. "We all have bounties on our heads. I'm the Chosen, now considered traitor, Sheena's from Mizuho, now considered a village of traitors, Genis and Raine here are half-elves, Regal and Kendal all both wanted for murder, through the latter is much higher a priority" he broke off a second to give me a dirty look "and much more scary. So, we're all the victims of-"

"Idiot scoundrels who don't even know how to block an egg if it was dropped on them," I finished for him. "So, please, dear god or to anything above this realm of mostly idiots" This got everyone looking at Lloyd- Bless him, he was oblivious to even that " _please_ stop whining about how it's your fault. Why? Because it isn't and it isn't anybodys'. Well, a little old somebody known as the Pope of Tethe'Alla."

They all nodded at her. "Whatever Kendal said," Sheena told Colette frankly.

"So stop apologizing for everything and stuff!" Lloyd said.

"Okay, I'm sorry-"

Then, her eyes widened in what seemed like pain, and then she fell to her knees. "Ugh!... Ow… Ugh!... Ow ow!"

Immediately we all rushed to her. Raine, the acknowledged doctor of the group, quickly felt her forehead. "She's running a high fever," she said, her voice rushed, "But what could be causing this much pain-?"

"Move… leave… this to me…" A familiar voice stated coldly.

We all turned around, and lo and behold, Presea was there. "Presea?" Raine said, startled. "Al.. alright…" She stepped back.

For some reason, my instincts, even in my weakened state, was ringing bells through every inch of me. Presea definitely didn't seem like a person to learn medicine, considering her angel-like state and the fact that I had never seen her perform healing magic before. All she did was raze swaths of the ground or chunks of enemies. So, why-?

Suddenly, she whipped out her axe, slashing it in a circle. We all managed to get back- Well, no, not me. I whipped out my cleaver and slammed it into the earth, and held on to it where it made a barrier between me and something capable of cutting anybody in half.

The blade of the axe shifted so that the edge now angled upwards. I mirrored the same thing. As the other yelled at me to get out of there, Presea suddenly jumped up in the air and said- Said, not yelled- "Infliction."

I suddenly found myself barreling through the air as the ax threw me high from the scattered images of the surrounding buildings.

Knowing that it would be impossible for me to land without breaking something at the rate I was whirling around at, I took the easy way out. "Blade Rocket," I shouted, and immediately aligned with the ground as I fell, spinning along the way.

I landed hard, given that I had barely any time to prepare and that I hadn't even thought about ever using it, stumbling before I looked up.

"That bi-"

_Crack._

I stared at Presea unbelievingly as Colette fell backwards in her collapsed position, blood trickling from a busted lip. The blood, also on the axe handle, glittered even in the dim light from Ozette's shadow as she swung it back to her personal wing pack where she stored the axe.

"That BITCH!"

My enraged shout interfered with a rather evil crackling. "My, my now, why should a youngster like you be using such an obscene word?" came a voice. Crackly, as a catch to it.

I turned around to stare at a rather familiar guy with purple hair and light-green robes.

_Rodyle._

Even as my brain registered the name, my muscles wouldn't move. What was this guy doing here, a Desian Grand Cardinal, one of the current ones? I knew why I hadn't recognized him when we had first seen him- Presea's porch was in permanent and almost total shadow, and besides, the guy never turned his face to me.

"Anyway, where was I?" he drawled. "Ah, yes. Good _work, _Presea!" he cackled, putting a high-pitched emphasis on the "work."

Immediately, he pushed a button on his arm.

A screech that was shrill enough to raise the hairs on my back (I immediately twitched, as I hated loud high pitched metallic sounds anyway).

What I saw when I looked up made my blood run cold. Three dragons, which happened to look like Wyverns, but with visible eyes, swooped down low. Two of them landed which the third dived low and snatched up the unconscious form of Colette Brunel and then hovered in the air a few yards above the inn roof.

"I am Rodyle, the most cunning of the Desian Grand Cardinals!" he declared. "I hope you don't mind me taking the Chosen!" and finished his oh-so intricately evil line with a high pitched crackle that I had become used to after all the times he used that annoying voice.

Mounting one of the dragons on the ground, he beckoned to Presea, who immediately started to run up to the second stationary dragon.

"Damn!" Sheena yelped, the first one to recover from the shock of witnessing Colette get knocked out by Presea. "Corrine!"

The semi-cute vixen from my memories streaked across the ground and slammed into the small of Presea's back, sending her to the ground. Immediately, as Rodyle and the dragon holding our blond-in-residence rose into the air, the unmounted dragon roared its displeasure and reared back its jaws, intending to swallow Corrine and maybe a chunk of Presea.

_Not on my watch, _I thought as I sprinted to a the nearest wall.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Corrine, get out of there!" Sheena yelled. The kitsune immediately scanned around. Instantly recognizing the jaws of the dragon that intended to swallow it, it attempted to backpedal out of there.

Too late. The neck of the dragon shot forward, saliva flying as the teeth began to come together-

Suddenly, the dragon itself was lifted off the ground as a brown blur crashed into the neck of the would-be kitsune eater. After a whirl in the air, Kendal slammed down on the ground, backfirst, and kept sliding forward, cleaver out by his side as the dragon followed his general path.

Sheena, from all her ninja training, instantly knew what was going on- He had sprinted to a wall, climbed up it, and then launched himself into the neck of the dragon, with his cleaver over the head- A high-power stab, which in Sheena's opinion could penetrate anything.

The side effect, however, was that since that Sheena saw that there was so little room to land his feet on the dragon's long spindly neck, he overshot his target by some ten meters, sliding on the ground for the last seven. The dragon's body itself followed, somehow.

Kendal stood up, and dusted himself off. "Creepy bastard," he mumbled, stepping over the dead body of the dragon as Lloyd, swallowing down the shock he was feeling, turned to Presea.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I yawned, realizing that I _really_ needed to sleep. Three days of nonstop activeness had driven my body's own synchronisms whack.

"Lloyd," a voice spoke, breaking the silence. "What shall we do about Presea?"

Ah. Regal. He seemed to be the most level-headed one of the group, even surpassing Raine- Well, no, he _had_ to be the most level-headed to have recovered from the shock of seeing Colette's kidnapping so fast.

"Oh… yeah." The brunette, I guessed, was attempting to get over what seemed to me as hatred for being half the reason for his childhood friend's kidnapping, but he was doing a pretty good job of restricting the anger, even if he did let some sadness show.

Walking over, he spoke hoarsely. "I've designed this to just put this on her current Key Crest. Later… we'll make a more permanent one."

He placed it on.

* * *

OMG CHAPTER 40! 

For those of you who've read this all the way through, thanks for sticking with me. I'll never forget you guys (sheds tear)


	41. Memories and Souls

Yes yes yes yes yes YES!

Kendal: What's with the rant?

Me: I've officially fully recovered from my SOB fracture in my right hand, peeps! PARTAY!!!!

Genis: Why should we?

Me: Why, because then you guys get to be my victims in which I laugh at you while you suffer pain.

Genis: WHAT???

Lloyd: Uh… Does that mean for Genis?

Me: See? He's not stupid. He's pretty intelligent. Yep, only for the little doggie here.

Genis: He's _Lloyd._ LLOYD. Of course he'd be stupid.

Lloyd: (busy thinking about what's for dinner) What was that, Genis?

Me: AUTHOR POWERS!

Lloyd: (suddenly in weird room full of magma) AHHH!!! Oh, there's the exit. (walks over to a really well-hidden exit)

Genis: WTF!

Me: You try.

Genis: (in room) AHHH!!! HOT HOT HOT HOT (falls into magma and gets burned to death)

Kendal: Okay, yeah. I think you proved your point.

Sheena: Err… Screamingedge doesn't own us, only that guy in brown. (sweatdrop) Or Tales of Symphonia…

* * *

Why did everything suddenly feel so dramatic? 

Now, I was feeling myself take an involuntary expectant breath. As if this was supposed to kill me or something? Yeah, right. But, maybe for saving one more human life, I guess.

After a few seconds, there was nothing. Just, a dead silence. Then, I saw the cold, clear empty eyes fill up with… something indescribable.

Maybe something like… soul.

She gave a startled murmur as she shook her head once. "Presea? Are you okay?" Genis asked, edging closer to the object of his affections.

She gave a startled gasp. "What? Where's my daddy?" She looked around frantically. "I… I want my daddy!"

I looked over at Lloyd, who was shocked like everyone else in Ozette. For once, there seemed to be _emotion_ of all things oozing from her.

Well, to tell you the truth, when we entered her house, I could tell this was _not _going to be happy.

"D-daddy…" Presea whispered, when she first saw the corpse. "I… I…" After gulping down some tears, she whispered "What… what have I been… been… do doing…" Then she screamed, a long piercing wail that made me wince inside. The cry of person who had just lost everything.

I closed my eyes as I heard sobbing. There was no need for explanation.

**VWVWVWVWV**

_**Presea's POV**_

My father. Dead. For over ten years, because I could not- And still cannot- Feel emotions. Negative- I only mean to feel them, but I cannot analyze them.

I was only twelve when I received my both curse and blessing. Curse, as I could not save nor notice my father, even when he was dead. Blessing, because it made me, ironically, into an organism that was strong, strong to the outer reaches of exsphere-enhanced power.

I could feel a strange… piercing feeling inside me as a tear rolled down my cheek. It shook loose when I jammed my father's ax on top of his grave, as I squeezed the weathered wood one more time. I could not place this emotion that I was feeling to this. What was this… attachment to this nonliving object?

I turned to the others, spinning in three-hundred and sixty three degrees to face the main body of the others. "Thank you for helping me bury my fa… daddy," I said, and was surprised to hear something close to an emotion, as I had tried my hardest to not sound like a machine anymore.

"Don't mention it," Kendal said, as he stifled a yawn.

I turned to him "You are currently sleep-deprived. To recover normal body functions, a full approximate twelve-hour sleep is needed. Estimated time before natural shutdown of conscious body functions: three hours."

He blinked, then he groaned. "Okay, I guilty," he grumbled. "But, _can_ I_ catch _some sleep at all later?"

Lloyd, the person in the red clothes, I reminded myself, turned to him. "Okay, man," he said, in an expatriated tone. I was about to speak for a correction in grammar usage, but Lloyd continued, so I mouthed it silently.

"You can-" then he remembered the person he was speaking to was the most hunted person in Tethe'Alla. "Okay, fine, sleep on a roof or something."

He nodded, blinking with force in order to ward off sleep, and fell silent. And still.

"Have you calmed down now?" Raine, the Professor, asked.

I nodded. "Yes. I've… been a great-" I paused, feeling something well up in me, I wanted to cringe from it, because, it felt so revolting. Was this… shame? "-burden to you all," I finished, and swallowed.

"You remember?" Lloyd asked, quiet.

"Yes… mostly."

"How did you receive an exsphere like that on you?" Genis asked.

"From a person named Vharley." I paused, remembering his wide body length and arrogant stance. Another feeling began to flare in me. Before I could analyze it and remember its name, Regal growled "I knew it… Vharley!"

I looked as him in question, thinking about this needless outburst of energy, but I decided to save the approximate thirty seconds of question-and-answer with Regal. So I continued my story. "I… wanted to be a save daddy. I wanted to wield an ax, so I could work in my father's place. That's how Vharley introduced me to… Rodyle, and then to Kate at Sybak."

Even as those words flitted across my mind, I remembered how I had said to the others that I hated Sybak. How was that, when I had felt nothing, when my soul numbed? I contemplated that, Zelos said "That experiment was carried out with the order of the Pope, right?"

"Which means that Desian is in league with the Pope!" Lloyd growled.

"Presea," Regal said sharply. "Do you have older sister?"

I looked at him, turning my head's angle at thirty degrees. "No."

"Do you have any other family?" He questioned further.

Slightly confused at these… questions, I said carefully "My mother died when I was young…. I have a younger that went to work for a noble when I was a child."

"I see," Regal muttered, shy suddenly, and then backed off for three steps.

"A child?" Zelos asked, chuckling in disbelief. "You're still a child now."

"Ah… yes, that's right," I replied, suddenly feeling conscious of myself much more then I would have preferred. What was this feeling… A sort of want to be temporarily away from the eyes of the world for a while? Shame? No... It wasn't repulsive. It was... embarrassment.

They did not notice me, however. "In any case," Sheena declared, "We can't leave you here in this village by yourself if you've got nobody to turn to."

"Yes," Raine nodded, "the people seem to avoid her."

People… had avoided me?

"I… uuh…" I started, faltering slightly. "I'd like to come with you in saving Colette… because I feel it's my fault that Colette has been taken."

"Me as well," Regal added suddenly. "It seems that my fate is tied to yours, as well."

Lloyd stepped back thoughtfully. I almost ran the figures of the waste of energy being used in the thought process, but I held it back- He was with emotions, and had been with them his entire life, not like me who had been deprived of them for sixteen long years.

"Of course," Lloyd said finally, filling me with a strange feeling that made me (At least to the sense of touch) speed away from the world in happiness._Relief?_ I guessed. "Help us save Colette!" he declared.

"Thank you," I said in relief, "I'll do my best!"

Regal nodded. "Thank you. I'm in your debt."

Raine, although having a fifty percent dissent attitude towards such a decision, nodded. "Now let's hurry up and find Colette."

"Alright," Lloyd said determinedly, "then let's search east."

"So," came a deep voice that had a ten-percent tone of mocking in it, "You've lost the Chosen."

We all turned around.

**VWVWVWVWV**

My eyes, which had been half closed and were formerly subject to constant blinking only a few moments ago, snapped wide open.

"You again!" Lloyd growled, both hands on his blades. "What've you done with Colette?"

_Kratos._

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Years of studying shock tactics and hands-on (Yet painful) experiences with Kratos himself had taught me that if something came at you, the closer it was, the faster it would seem. _

_So, that was the principle where I readied myself. I quickly pushed the blade closer to my body, so that I could quickly give slash it in case it all came down to twitch slashes._

_Just as he came within five feet of me, he suddenly increased his pace. I knew this tactic- It was to increase the shock that his opponent would feel as he was approached by his purple-clad foe._

_I wasn't fazed by it, but I knew that I had to make a decision now whether to take a chance and attack or wait another five seconds. Choosing to strike, I made a quick upwards cleaving thrust which, in my imaginations and studying the charts of a human's anatomy, should penetrate the heart in one swift motion._

_He quickly deflected it with his shield as he thrust it deliberately to his right. I knew that this would quickly morph into a sweeping horizontal slash, so I turned my blade sharply and moved it to my left, his right. When he swept the blade, it immediately clashed with the edge. I felt a rare moment of satisfactions, but I didn't let it stay and distract me. _

_I quickly ducked low and lashed out at his shin with a sweeping kick that popped audibly.  
_

_It caught. I didn't just look up and see Kratos's face. Well, no, I didn't do that at all. I quickly rocketed my head upwards in a head butt, slamming into his chin. I heard a grunt, then a heavy, blunt pain as he swung his shield into my side._

_I backed away, gasping in pain, while my mentor skipped backwards, cursing quietly. He wiped the trickle of blood from his jaw, and looked up to see-_

_Me rushing towards me. I didn't stop to let my side rest- I knew that this was my chance. I turned his shock tactic trick against him, suddenly increasing my speed as I came close to him. He brought his sword up in a cool, calm motion, but it shook as he did it, breaking the mirage._

_Instead of bringing up my blade, I did a perfect, practiced drop kick straight into his chest. Staggering backwards, he dropped to a knee, only to see me lash out with a foot while still on the ground, the heel smashing into his jaw. He fell straight on his back, totally stunned, while I got up and jumped on him my blade over my head, ready to declare check and mate._

_When I stabbed downwards though, I didn't hit armor- I hit the shield. Cursing, I skipped backwards as he did a short thrust to where I would have been a second ago._

_Immediately, he sprung up and began a flurry of thrusts, keeping me backwards. Even if my cleaver-imitation wood blade was longer than his wooden… stick, could do anything, as he simply parried my counters with ease and made me pay for me failures to land a hit by forcing me back faster and faster._

_Finally getting the courage, I made a tentative attempt at blocking, which snagged onto one of his thrusts. Remembering my rehearsals for this type of situation, I quickly tilted the blade so that the edge was perpendicular to the ground, jutted it into the storm of thrusts._

_Immediately, Kratos's blade caught on the edge, and we locked into a standstill. Knowing that a showdown on who was stronger was inevitable, I shoved forward, causing him to stumble back, only to push against me and shove me back._

_It would have gone on for longer if Kratos hadn't suddenly rotated sharply his training sword. I suddenly remembered the last time he had tried that- I had made the mistake of slacking my blade in surprise, and with a flick of the wrist he made me howl as my own sword was wrenched out of my hand._

_My mind was almost shut down by that painful memory, but I forced myself to clam my nerves and then…_

_Let the blade go._

_Just like that. It was suspended in mid-air as Kratos's blade rotated uselessly in the air, its blunt edge shearing on my cleaver. I quickly rejoined my hand, not gripping it, only using it as a lever, to the handle, and then rotated it in the air as fast as I could._

_Kratos, his face showing surprise, quickly let go and jumped back as the tables turned- Now __**his**__ blade was the one rotating, as I continued pushing my hand in a circular motion that kept both weapons, cleaver and sword, in the air suspended by centrifugal motion. _

_I made my next move after a pause of three seconds._

_I snagged both handles, and in one smooth motion quickly leapt forward and thrust them both at Kratos. Quickly, he sidestepped the dual thrust in a diagonal motion to my left, so he would be suddenly right behind me. Obviously, he was going to attempt to rip out one of my blades, but in a moment, I improvised and twisted my body to my own right, bringing up my knee in the process, which lifted my entire body as I became a human missile. _

_The knee, given a drilling motion that would have easily snapped even one of Kratos's ribs if not two, arced straight for his face as I turned, the force of lashing my torso still carrying me through. He knew, I saw it- He knew that he had to get out of there fast, for even in my upside-down state, I was already preparing for another thrust. Even if he could stop me, with an obvious simple shove of both his hands, my knee would slice down into somewhere- Any where would be painful, given its current velocity. _

_I knew he had to move, but I never planned for __**where**__ he would move. In a surprise move, he dived under my head, an auburn lock almost slashing into my eye. In surprise at both the near miss and the audacity of his motion, I lost my control and crashed down on my back._

_I made the mistake of giving myself a moment of rest, which let Kratos come dangerously close with me unprepared to fend off another rush. I did manage to make a wild sweeping motion over my head, where his figure was, but he easily ducked under it and slammed a kick into my left shoulder joint, the arm holding his sword._

_I howled and rolled away, allowing him to pick up his weapon in return for a reprieve. It was good while it lasted, but he came at me yet again, lashing out with a cool cold style that blurred as I clumsily fended off his blows and slowly widened the exposure in my guard. I knew this style. This was the cold, calm, collected style that heralded death for all that made the mistake of pushing him this far.  
_

_How was I going to get out of this one?_

* * *

And there you have it, chapter number 41! 

Kendal: Just to let you know, readers, this chapter took _sooooooooo_ long to finish.

Me: (mauls) WHY ARE YOU TELLING THEM SUCH INAPPROPRIACIES? YOU'RE GROUNDED, KENDAL SEYCHEYLL!

Kendal: (sulk)


	42. A student's wound

Very sorry for the long delay, readers, I've been held up with my dad's apparent addiction to hiking...

Kendal: Obviously, to the readers, I've had to spend less time with this guy. Yay for me!

Me: Well, too bad, cuz I am BAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!

Kendal: Aw, crud… Isn't there anyway to keep this guy away from me!?

Genis: (walks from behind a wall with weird looking Raine)

Me: AHHHHHHH!!! HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET HER BACK, LITTLE SOB!

Kendal: What? AHHHHH!!! HOW DID THAT LITTLE BASTARD GET HER BACK!

Genis: Oh, I constructed a time machine.

Raine: I… want your brains…

Me: What? NUUUUU!!! YOU CAN'T TOUCH MY BRAIN!

Kendal: YOU CAN'T TOUCH MINE, CRAZY, SPAZZY LADY!

Raine: (stumbles forward) Give me… soft… fleshy… BLOODY!!!!11!!!!!1!!!!

Me/Kendal: NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER (runs away)

Genis: MUWAHAHAHAHA! Screamingedge does not own me or my sister or Namco and therefore doesn't own Tales of Symphonia. Except Kendal. (resumes evil laughter)

* * *

"You again!" Lloyd said furiously. "What've you done with Colette?" 

"Rodyle is acting on his own, dismissing our orders," Kratos said in a manner that was just as dismissive. "I know nothing of it."

"Internal strife?" Raine snorted derisively. "How pathetic."

"Say what you will," Kratos said coldly, without even looking at her. "Either way, he will have no choice but to abandon the Chosen," he informed them.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked. How was she useless? Why would she be, as Martel's vessel he wondered?

"The Chosen is useless the way she is now," Kratos replied curtly. "You can let her be."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Lloyd snapped. "We're going to rescue her no matter what! And if you get into our way, then-" He ended the sentence with a leap forward at the mercenary/angel.

Like the last time Kratos was confronted with a situation where his son had attempted to drive him off, he sighed and easily flicked away Lloyd's Saint Rapier as if he was swatting a fly, in this case Lloyd. "You still lack the skills to defeat me. Yet again," he added snidely, and continued. "If you are that determined, then by all means seek the Rheairds. I'm sure the people of Mizuho have found them by now."

Walking away, he turned and called "And search the eastern skies, will you-"

He never got to finish that sentence, because suddenly a blur appeared at the edge of his vision. A brown one.

**VWVWVWVWV**

While they had been talking, I had been edging my way out of Kratos's vision, or at least to the edge of it where he couldn't focus on nor take notice of me. Not that I needed any incentive to- I needed to make a statement. My forehead was already tingling, my forehead a scar of Kratos's own engineering.

I had timed my disappearing act when Kratos had parried the hapless Lloyd's thrust, which I considered more refined than the last time they had dueled- But then again, Kratos _was_ on of the Four Seraphim and teacher of Mithos Yggdrasil, wasn't he?

I had whispered "Ghost" and had, in the eyes of the others, if they had bothered to look at me, become a faint blur in their eyesight. But in reality, I was pumping mana out of me in an extreme rate so that the world suddenly slowed down, blurring, and allowed me to run over to a bush, where I hid myself. Note that also my mind was accelerating, as well.

Kratos had never quite seen anything that, I supposed as I reached the three second real-time limit that I put on myself. Something that let you go so fast, you were virtually invisible (Save a blur if you had good enough eyesight, as in angelic eyesight), something that let you sneak on the most alert enemy without as much as a breath to spare the moment you ended you "superspeed" time.

So, I had hid to the side of the enclave which housed Presea's house, and waited till Kratos crossed the imaginary boundary that was both created and extended in front of me.

"Go down," I whispered, and ripped out both daggers that had anchored me to the wall behind myself, as I faced forward. Shoving with my legs to the hardest extent they could (Adrenaline was rushing through me yet again, so no fatigue), I had rocketed out of the bush, twisting my body so that the triangular point of my shoulder was now speeding towards my former mentor.

Human missile. The scarf tails had already made myself look like a rocket enough as they danced behind me. Seeing Kratos stiffen, I lowered my head, squinting in response to the rushing air, and-

I hit nothing, as Kratos danced out of the way, sword drawn.

I cursed, which was lost to the wind, and gave myself a deliberate spin while ripping out my cleaver. Because of my body angle, I sailed through the air, slicing the ground and gashing it dozens of times due to my spin.

Finally, the edge struck a rock that, although slashed apart by the diamond edge, it slowed me down to the point where I could stop myself. Skidding and spinning, I turned to see…

Two Demon Fangs. Obviously, Kratos had predicted my projected path and when I would stop, and launched a Double Demon Fang at my supposed landing spot.

Not a problem. Since Demon Fangs simply could never rival the edge of my Aeroslicers, I did just that but along the ground, right in the paths of the shockwaves. The slicer crashed through the first one after a moment's hesitance, then proceeded to smash into the second one and pass through, now only limping through the air, slowed considerably with a blunt edge.

Ignoring it, he gave a little hop all while narrowing his eyes at me.

Well, no, he didn't. He didn't see me, technically. Because, the next moment, I was low, and rushing him. Not that I could have done him in with that- I was something like twenty meters away, so obviously I couldn't have surprise on my side for long before he reacted.

In this case, Kratos did, in one second. Ten meters forward, he had jumped upwards with a slash and yelled "Hell Pyre," sending a ball of flame down, so concentrated that if it hit the ground, it would have blasted a sizable crater.

He had timed it perfectly; continuing on my current projected path of running would have gotten me nailed by the fireball. Not that I _had_ to get hit in this situation- I simply bent my body to the side, as my no-sleeves narrowly skimmed the hot air of the fireball. For demonstration, I pulled off a one-handed handstand as my gauntleted hand barely skimmed the soil before I flipped and kept going, this time on my feet.

Five meters, and Kratos had already preformed his next move. I could see him draw back his blade (Which happened to be the Flamberge) for a huge, possibly fatal thrust if it connected, which was aided by the shock of what would come. And the explosion of air pressure.

The Super Lighting Blade.

I had already turned myself, so that my right side was facing him, as I switched my grip lightning fast from holding it like a warrior to like an assassin, ready to stab with force. A large amount of it, which became a huge amount if you counted the explosion planned at the end.

This would be the rough equivalent of his Super Lighting Blade- My own Wolf Fang Pulse.

"Wolf…" "Super…"

"Fang-" "Lighting-"

"PULSE!" "BLADE!"

Both blades struck, right on the point. There, I hovered and he stood, both of us looking into each other's eyes. As I felt the mana in both blades ready to burst (My mind was in overload, literally, so everything seemed slow), we stared into each other's eyes, neither of us willing to budge.

The lightning and air pressure stuck.

The explosion ignited.

The air itself seemed to explode as we were both hurled back, me from the air pressure (Not from the electricity that was numbing my nerves) and Kratos from the explosion. Neither of us truly felt the full force of the other's attack- Our own canceled out the other's.

Both of us landed, skidding on the ground as we tried to keep in balance. When the dust settled we were both locked in the combat of wills, both of us attempting to make the other break his stare, signifying mental superiority.

We both blinked, as somehow we both had a cloud of dust blow simultaneously blow into our eyes. A draw.

With a "humph" from Kratos, and a "tsssssk" of distain from me, we both sheathed our weapons, and walked away from our battlefield, him to who knew where, me to the group.

As the adrenaline drained away, I suddenly felt, very, very sleepy. So sleepy I didn't notice the moon-round eyes I was facing.

"Can I sleep now?" I asked in a thick voice, and staggered over to Presea's porch, where I lay down and fell into the pleasant abyss of sleep.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Whoa," Zelos whistled. "That's what you'd call a sleeping beauty." It was classic- His hands were forming a pillow, his body was curled up, and he had a weird look on his face. Which seemed like it was-

"Peaceful" Raine said dryly.

"What'll we do with him, Lloyd?" Genis asked mischievously. His friend, giving him an identical evil grin, crept up the stairs, holding out a pink tube of lipstick.

"GIVE THAT TUBE!"

"AHHH!!! PROFESSOR- GAHHHH!!!"

Amazingly, (In the eyes of the others) Kendal slept straight through it all.

**VWVWVWV (In his dreams, continue flashback)**

_It was obvious, that me, the panicking little boy, would be officially dead if in the real world and therefore all blades being wielded by me and Kratos were real._

_I had always been the intelligent one compared to most Damasci. I had always the witty remark about somebody's clothes, something to say about the popular snobs, and pretty much a gossip rag. _

_But, what I wasn't particularly good at was improvising in battle. To survive, you'd have to improvise in ten thousand different ways for one whole day of battle, and I had no ability to do so, pretty much. I hadn't experienced the light in front of the tunnel, had I?_

_No, really- Quite simply, Damasci, my race, gained new abilities from experiencing something near death. Once one of us managed to survive, they'd have an ability that was always unpredictable in where it was granted- Superior vision here, unrestricted growth in physique here, and what I was vying to have, a mind that could think faster then__**anybody**__ in battle._

_Right now, that was just a dream, because I was just too scared to go through the "treatment" that some went through bi-yearly, because you could "almost die" for multiple times. To be exact, I was jealous of those who braved through it with classic grit that I simply didn't have._

_A thrust here, that would leave me exposed for a fraction of a second, blurring the air. As his blade lashed out, I instinctively slashed out, and by sheer luck, caught his just-now formulated slash in a cross of blades._

_He barely locked edges before he slid it over the top, which I had only just realized was possible. Silently cursing, it was only wasted breath as I slid under him in a last-ditch attempt to gain some distance and some breathing room._

_As Kratos jumped to avoid a broken shin, he jabbed downwards, which would have hit if a wildly swinging cleaver hadn't forced him to do a midair roll to dodge from a theoretical amputated leg. _

_Getting up, gasping, as Kratos landed, my mind was on fire. I was desperately bringing up every strategy I could. But with every one I thought of and then shot down, it was costing me time. I knew that, with half-seconds passing._

_By the time I had finally gotten the perfect strategy, it was almost too late- Kratos was already charging._

"_DAMNATION!"_

_Kratos's eyebrows almost jumped off his face when he heard that, as mana and a new strength surged through me to start twirling my blade in wildly improvised crescent slashes and hacks. _

_He was too fast the moment I launched the technique, and complicating his own situation, he had jumped at that moment, meaning that he was on an unavoidable crash course._

_Inventing my own move was on a whim when I had thought of copying the common Demon Fang technique, which I would have done so if it hadn't been for my shame in doing a clichéd move. So, I'd started working on my own, training hours controlling releases of mana, and finally… _

_I'd come up with this move. Although not exactly powerful, it was a start that I was sure could expand rapidly into a new breed of moves, all invented by me. _

_The first slash hit his shoulder, glancing of. I knew that the slashes would be weak, but I had sacrificed power for speed, thinking it was better to make a quick, easily usable move and not a difficult, power heavy move that would leave me open. Too open. _

_All five strike landed. Almost forgetting to duck at the last moment, I did so and watched as Kratos flew above me, shocked and wide-eyed, landing in a heap on his face._

_As soon as he got up, I __**knew**__ it wasn't going to be pretty. _

_But obviously, it wasn't, because the next thing I saw was a red blur, like a flame fly above eye level, and the world going down. Away. Flying away, letting the darkness let in._

* * *

OHHH! THE SUSPENSE! 

Kendal: (sulks) That... hurt.

Me: What did? Oh yeah, what cracked open your forehead. (crackles)

Kendal: EBIL SONAVABITCH (mauls)

Me: (mauls harder) HOW DARE YOU TRY TO DO A CLITCHED ACTION SUCH AS THAT, COPYRIGHTED BY ME!

Kendal: MOTIONS OF THE BODY ARE NOT FRIGGIN' COPYRIGHTED!

Me: ... (resumes mauling)


	43. Back, twelve years later

The forty-third chapter begins!

Kendal: Yeah, depressingly, as Raine Sage begins her rule of terror…

Raine: (Off at a distance) SHEENA! GET OVER HERE AND START SUMMONING ANYBODY TO WIPE THOSE TWO IDIOTS OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

Me: Did she mean…. US?????????????????

Kendal: (sweatdrop) Oh, s(#$.

Sheena: Y-yes ma'm! I call-

Me/Kendal: KAMIKAZE CRAZY ATTACK! (runs through everybody, trampling people)

Kratos: Urgh… STOP THIS NONSENSE! JUDGEMENT!

Me/Kendal: (incinerated)

Me: (reappears from author powers) BASTARD! YOU PURPLE-WEARING, GIRLY REDHEAD WITH REALLY, REALLY WEIRD PANTS, YOU DOCHEBAG!

Kratos: (cry in corner)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything involved with Namco or Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

I cracked open an eye, wondering why I didn't feel like a stone anymore, being constantly dragged down by fatigue.

Then I remembered. I had slept.

I opened both eyes, finding myself looking at a blue sky and a sun the was halfway into the sky.

_Halfway-?_

I shook myself free of whatever holds sleep had on me, and look around.

The others were busy cooking, or killing time by sparring or just sitting there, twiddling their thumbs.

"How long was I out?" I called.

Immediately, all eyes turned to me. "What're you kidding!" Lloyd snapped, sounding grumpy for once. "You've been sleeping for fifteen hours!"

"Damn," I whistled. "Looks like I might've broken the record for the last time I tried going three days straight with no sleep."

A silence.

"What?" I snapped, looking around at the thunderstruck faces.

"You… went for three days with no sleep?" Sheena questioned weakly.

"Did I not say that? No. No _duh_."

I stretched, popping a few joints in my shoulders, and looked around for my cleaver.

"ZELOS! YOU BASTARD!" I roared as I jumped up and tackled the redhead, who had been attempting to swing it around, with minimal success.

"Arggph" was all he could say as I smothered him with a tail of my scarf, steaming.

"WHAT THE CRAP, I REPEAT, _CRAP_, WERE YOU TRYING TO NICK MY CLEAVER FOR!"

I finally uncovered his mouth, letting him roll away, gasping for air. "I… Err…" he wheezed, "I wanted… to see how… you could use something like that… without any drawback…"

"Well, I can," I said, my temper starting to cool down, "And that's all you need to know, sex slave."

"I AM NOT A SEX SLAVE!"

"OH YES YOU ARE, CROSSDRESSER!"

"I AM NOT A CROSSDRESSER!"

"O RLY?"

"YA RLY!"

"NO WAI!"

"YA WAI!"

It would have spiraled on forever if Genis hadn't lifted the pot cover, oblivious to the chaos, and let open an aroma of meat. Chicken. Lots of it.

I dived for the pot, and crashed into Sheena, who was promptly sent spinning in three separate directions at a time.

I almost made it to the pot, when I realized that there was somebody behind me.

I turned, and found myself looking at a very, _very_ pissed off Sheena, with red… appendages that wobbled slightly.

"What?" I asked, oblivious to why she was staring at me. Some of the group, particularly the recently (In his opinion, anyway) brutalized Zelos were sniggering at my invisible plight, which I took note of.

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, on my back with a very sore cheek, which was already starting to feel very hot.

"Do you know what you just did?" Sheena said, between clenched teeth.

"Other then send you into a tenspin, no," I replied, keeping my cool. In spite of the obvious being the she had just knocked me flat, I didn't feel ticked- I actually felt like dropping to the ground and laughing till the end of time.

That left her with nothing to say. Drained of any reason except repeat the obvious, she stalked away from her.

I was already betting on Zelos being the victim of all that violence bottled up inside, and I wasn't disappointed.

"Aw, hunny," Zelos cooed, "don't be upset by that little prick" (I twitched at that one) "And come with me-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING, IDIOT CHOSEN!"

What happened next was in a word, brutal.

**VWVWVWVWV**

By the time we got to Mizuho, most of Zelos's bruises had closed. Closed, that is. Not fully healed. He was still wincing with every step, he was still stumbled and hobbled every time his leg caught on something (In these cases, from where we were traveling through, a tree branch), and he was still swearing under his breath every three seconds. And when he wasn't, he was growling testimonies that he, the beautifully handsome Zelos did not get beat up by anybody.

Not even his dear hunny Sheena. Maybe he shouldn't have said that, the thirty times he did- At every mentioning of her name, the still-steaming Sheena jumped on him yet again to begin another smackfest.

The most recent one was five minutes ago. After a half-hearted First Aid by Raine, he trudged off for a while to find a little dark corner to cry in.

The village no longer seemed suspicious of us, as we entered it, so we headed for Tiga's place, A.K.A. Sheena's house. And her dear grandpa, still in a twelve year coma.

Before entering, I almost pulled out a Mizuho potion, but decided against it- That little piece of crap wearing a blue hat had already drunken- eaten, really- one potion. So, I'd better wait another week to taste a bottle.

"What an unappreciative bastard," I said to myself wretchedly, and went in.

"You've stopped by perfectly," Tiga said, looking relieved- I could see that there were dark circles under his eyes. Apparently, the guy must've gone through hell doing it for us. "We've just located the Rheairds."

"Alright," Lloyd said, punching the air in triumph, "Now all we need to do is to retrieve them and Colette's free!"

"Wait."

"Huh?" Lloyd inquired, confused. "There's a catch?"

"Yes," Tiga said, not bothering to dismiss the cliché. "Without power, the Rheairds cannot fly, leaving them useless. So," He continued, looking at Sheena, "there will be a test for you."

"A test?" Sheena asked, puzzled.

"Yes. You must make a pact with Volt."

A silence, as I mentally cringed. The sore spot of Sheena's psyche. Volt.

"No…" Sheena mumbled. "No… No, no, I can't! I CAN'T!" she yelled, and raced out of the room.

I swore I could have heard a sob and a crystalline glitter of tears. Then again, that's what I always did- I swore that it happened. Maybe it was all in my head. But whatever it was, a dead, heavy silence took hold of the room, which nobody wanted or had a reason to break.

Tiga did. "Sheena's grandfather," he said heavily, "Protected her from the wrath of Volt twelve years ago. Ever since, he has not opened his eyes at all…"

The words trailed away, as we filed out in silence.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Corrine appeared by Sheena's side, unsummoned, as she knelt down near the statues of the village and let go of the dam that had been there for as long as she could remember.

When her tears finally dried, she looked up, and spotted her best, if not cute/miniature, friend.

"Sheena, don't be sad," Corrine chirped. "You're not seven anymore, you've lived twelve years since then. You can do it!"

"I can't," Sheena said, her voice breaking into another sob.

"You have friends on your side now!" Corrine persisted. "People that really treat you as a friend, allies who'll help you make the pact with Volt!"

"So?" Sheena replied, sniffing. "I had allies that last time, and all they could do was being targets for lightning bolts. Just like my grandpa…"

**VWVWVWVWV**

I sat on the rooftop in the nearest adjacent house to where Sheena was sitting by Corrine, my knees dangling from the edge. Thinking.

"Hey Kendal" Lloyd's voice came. Looking down, I realized that it was a soft call, as if he didn't want to disturb Sheena and her talk with Corrine, who was obviously trying to comfort the poor girl.

"What do you think I should do?" He asked, leaning against the wall. "Everybody says I should talk with Sheena. Zelos even said she always had a thing for me… What does that mean?"

That lit up a light bulb in my head, but I smashed it just as soon as it began shining. No need for a prank or pun here. "It means," I fibbed, "She's got an ear for your opinions."

"Oh," he said, so oblivious that he didn't not the skin of nervousness in my tone. "So, you think I could talk her into making the pact?"

I was silent for a moment. "Lloyd," I began. Hoping I wasn't about to turn in a psychologist. "Sheena's mind is like an eggshell. Inside, she's something close to a nervous wreck, or somebody very flustered depending on the situation. The shell that covers that core is strong, but brittle, and sometimes the shell simply collapses if you hit it with the right thing. In this case, the whole subject of Volt."

"Oh, so you mean she likes keeping herself in a sort of shell that isn't what she really is?" Lloyd said thoughtfully. I couldn't help whistling lightly at how he had absorbed this stuff when he was so oblivious, but then again, he always seemed to intelligent in snap decisions.

"Yeah," I nodded, "pretty much. Have you ever raised the subject of Volt in front of her?"

"Yeah," he replied, wracking his brain for the info, "when we first crash-landed in the Fooji Mountains. She suddenly got flustered, and stuff…"

"Bingo," I said gleefully, "I'm right." Recovering my composure, I then faced Lloyd. "So, yeah. Go on and talk to her. Her mental shell is isolating her from the general population, and no human being, elf, or somewhere in between, nobody is an island."

Nodding once, even though he seemed slightly confused, he began walking towards Sheena.

**VWVWVWVWV**

We got the location of the island- Just north of Ozette, check the skyline for a tower. Then dock the EC.

Where? Don't ask me. I had never been there, despite living a millennia, and no shipping line had bothered with building a dock there. Apparently, it was dangerous inside- The entire thing was a magnet, which both caused it to be constantly struck by lightning both in the tower and outside the tower in a thunderstorm.

And a perfect place for being the home of Volt, the Summon Spirit of Lightning. The Hammer of Godly Thunder.

As we got off the EC, I could see Sheena shaking, trying to get nerves together as we neared the base of the huge tower. Even now, I could see electricity dance on its wall, in this cloudless day.

"And I thought hell was all brimstone and fire," I mused sarcastically. "Now it's metal and lightning?"

"You… don't… need to comment…" Sheena mumbled as she shivered, although it was only ten or nine o'clock. It was warming up, with a cool, comfortable temperature, so I really didn't see any external reasons.

That would be missing the obvious, like an idiot- It was the internal, mental, whatever you call it. I was surprised that with a huge phobia about Volt like hers, that she hadn't already thrown up.

"You okay?" I asked, as we neared the arch way, which led into dimly lit depths of the Temple of Lightning. Obviously, with any combat in there, which was to be expected for temples, as sooner or later a pack of monsters would spot you and mark you as a very tasty meal, she'd be something like a hindrance with all the shakiness.

She nodded, even though her face and body gave of a completely opposite signal. She was sweating, shaking, and her face looked like it had seen the devil himself.

"Liar," I hissed, and quickly pulled her aside.

Although she opened her mouth to yell, I quickly kicked her in the shin and wrapped a scarf tail around her head to silence her. I really, like, _really_ needed to talk to her.

I hated people who blamed themselves for things that they never did. Even if I did have a grudge against Mithos for being the reason I became a monster and committed an act of genocide, I still did it- Therefore, I wasn't wrongly blaming myself.

Sheena, however, was a serious case of depression. She seemed to always put in tentative opinions, and never truly contributed to group discussions except when she had both her own and other lives on the line, as in her choosing to lead us to Mizuho.

After she got off the scarf, she shouted "Why did you do that!"

I winced, thinking that she might alert the others. So, I had to make things quick. "I'd like to ask what _you_ were doing," I countered calmly.

"What're you talking about?" She snapped. "I'm yelled at you because-"

"Before that. Like, ten seconds before I, er," I said, pausing for a moment to ponder the right word "Abducted you."

"I was walking into this damn hellhole!"

"The other thing you were doing."

Her face fell when she realized what I was saying.

"Oh," she mumbled guiltily. "I was… I was… shivering from the cold."

"Liar," I snapped. "The air's somewhere around seventy degrees. That's _cold_?"

"Then what else could it be!" She replied, shaken. "Who knows, I could have some pretty serious reactions to cold-"

"Or maybe it was something close to 'blaming yourself for something you didn't do'?"

Sheena hung her head, guilty. "Yes," she conceded with a whisper.

"So," I continued, almost furious at her for what seemed like idiocy to me, "Then why do you accept that?! Dammit, you got bullied when you were a little girl because you were as stupid enough to ACCEPT WHAT THEY CALLED YOU, A MURDERER!"

The last outburst would have left anybody else shaken- However, it didn't do one single thing to her. Sheena's eyes, already as round as moons, stared at me. "What?" She whispered. "How do you-"

Then the shit hit the fan.

"You…" She whispered, barely audible, "Were the… the man from when I was just nine years old?"

"Of course I was," I grumbled, suddenly self-conscious. Strange- I usually liked to stand out in a crowd, because I didn't feel any stigma attached to being the odd one out. Unless everybody was staring at me, in a wide-eyed way, then that was fine with me.

One person could count as a crowd, so I was already feeling uncomfortable, even now.

"But… but…" Sheena babbled, "You haven't aged a single day since!"

I cringed. "Damn, gave it away," I grumbled. "Okay, fine. I'm guilty. I haven't aged a day since then. Happy?"

More staring. "Stop STARING AT ME!"

She managed to stop, but only by looking down.

"Okay, fine," I grumbled. "Now you know. Now, please don't tell the others or I will-" I slugged the air in a fit of irritation "OH I DON'T KNOW!"

"Err," She stuttered, more in a feeling of weirdness than fright, "I see."

"Oh, and here's a little gift." With that, I whipped out the useless Spell Card-turn memorabilia, and walked in the Temple of Lightning.

* * *

Kendal: As for Raine, we didn't manage to trample her. So, look over there. (jabs finger to the left)

Raine: (busy commanding Genis to make a superlaser)

Genis: Got it! (aims at me and Kendal!)

Me: AUTHOR POWERS! (deflects right back at them)

Genis/Raine: (fried) NUUUUUU!!!

Kendal: So, yeah, she's still enslaving… PEOPLE TO DO HER DIRTY WORK! WILL ANYBODY STOP HER???

Me: ME?

Kendal: YOU'RE THE AUTHOR, REMEMBER???

Me: SHE'S TOO SCARY! NEXT CHAPTER THEN, WHEN I FIND MY COURAGE!


	44. The tantrum

Over the issue of attempts by Raine to kill me, I now issue a decree.

Sheena: And would that be? (sporting lots of bandages)

Me: That she is hereby given a brain surgery so she loses her god complex… AND HER EBILNESS! MUWAHAHA!

At the doctor's office…

Raine: (wakes up) GAAAARGH!

Doctors: Look like we operated wrong…

Raine: (blows them all away) GAAARGH! I AM ANGRY! REALLY, REALLY ANGRY! RAWR!

* * *

The first thing I noticed about the temple was that the light was dim. Dim enough to force me stop for a spell of a minute to let my eyes adjust, but not dim enough so that I couldn't make out the dark figures in front of me that were mumbling. One of them was busy whining about having to stop for our eyes to adjust. Obviously, Lloyd.

I could actually see my eyesight evolve so that I now saw things in color- The floor turned out to be purple, my most hated color. Wasn't purple for wussies?

"Oh, you've gotten in," Raine called, her silvery hair's effect diminished quite a bit.

"Haven't you noticed," I replied sarcastically.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that, but I had in no way in mind an acceptance of dear Raine and her god complex. First, that meant a bit of redemption. In this case, that meant the acceptance of a set number of insults- I decided that heralded somewhere around twenty.

Eyes blazing, she stalked up to me, something relative to murder in her body posture. "If you haven't noticed," She managed through clenched teeth, "I can incinerate you to a crisp if I'm a bit sloppy with aiming any day."

"I doubt you'd ever get a chance with monsters preying on a weakling at melee combat like you," I replied coolly.

"Oh?" She snorted. "Since when will I ever be not defended by anyone else? I _am_ a healer, after all, a vital element of the group."

"Um, no," I pointed out, "In case you haven't noticed, Zelos can heal. And so can I, you just haven't seen it yet. And besides, I'm an expert at hacking people's heads off, so I'm a jack of all trades. Not a pathetic supporting cleric like you."

"Since when have you healed?"

"You just haven't seen it yet," I repeated.

And then I walked away, with a fuming Raine.

Suddenly, Presea intoned "Enemy group approaching. Chance of evasion excluding exiting building: ten percent."

"Just what we needed to hear, doom and gloom only thirty seconds after we get in," I said sarcastically as I spotted the mentioned enemy group- Three lamias, a few frickin' floating swords, and a pack of gold skeletons that were dropping ribs. Seriously. Ribs were being dropped.

Without a word, Lloyd let a whoop and charged into the middle, already assaulting them with a Psi Tempest.

Well, yes, whooping counted as making sound, but that sure ain't a word, so that didn't count.

The rest of us let one single loud compound sigh, and leaped into the fray with him.

Immediately, with Lloyd doing his thing- Causing mass havoc- A gold skeleton stumbled over to me, knocked over by the force of a Raging Beast. Not a problem. "Damnation!" I said, and caught up the skeleton in a tempest of slices.

Backing away, it crossed its arms across its chest. I knew what would happen- Undead like these would treat whoever was in front of them to a spray of ribs that somehow always grew back. Hence why they could drop off. Just by walking.

Not a problem, despite the fact that the ribs came at me fast. A simple sidestep would dodge anything, as the bones seemed somehow unable to fly too much in a horizontal direction. So, one huge sidestep and nothing lost.

I followed that up with a quick Aeroslicer that sent it stumbling before it started twirling at me like a ballerina, its sword and shield outstretched, A.K.A. a sort of lethal whirligig. Not a problem, yet again- A hop overhead and it was already setting itself up for its own destruction. Well, maybe in a minute.

"Dominating Blade…" I mused as I enveloped the undead creature (Well, maybe creature that didn't count since it didn't breath, did it?) in a gold colored shockwave, "Fury Damnation," I said, slightly louder as I trapped it in yet another horribly hurtin' tempest, this time of slashes and not energy.

The coup de grace. "Wolf Fang PULSE!" I yelled out, putting particular emphasis on the Pulse part as my dagger-styled thrust ended with a big, big bang.

Getting knocked backwards perilously close to the edge of the walkway that were stretched beneath the foundations of the temple, which were covered with an otherworldly mist that constantly crackled with lightning, was enough in case things got blown apart. Hey, guilty pleasure.

The skeleton flew back, landing with a heavy thud, heavy enough to dislodge an arm from its socket (Hey, I always thought they were insecure, anyway). As it stood up, angrily clacking its jaw while swiveling its head to find where its twitching arm holding its sword was.

By then, I had already torn it to pieces by sprinting and blowing it completely apart with a Drop Dragon. Well, no, I didn't exactly blast it apart, but I did knock it over the other ledge of the walkway.

Walking there, and looking down, I could see the gold sheen of the skeleton shining, coursing with electricity while smoking as (I was sure of it) it slowly turned to ashes.

Mental note to myself: Never, ever think about touching whatever was down there. Otherwise, bye-bye, cruel world.

However, the next moment, that almost came true when something slammed into my legs, sending me almost toppling over the edge.

I managed to regain my balance to face a lamia that had wandered away, and was now attempting to hunt me down.

A growl of "Bitch," escaped my lips, as I thrusted the tip of my cleaver into the semi-realistic breast of a monster representation of a woman.

It struck, bringing a high pitch indignant wail that made me wince as I pulled back, the diamond glittering green from the lamia's blood.

Immediately, it put a hand to its mouth, its eyes sparkling devilishly, and I had a very weird feeling creeping up my skin, which was proved the moment it blew a damn kiss at me.

What the hell? Was cross-species mating even possible, especially when one was a monster?

I knew what lamia's liked to do- That heart that was flying towards me was really a sort of mana that would temporarily corrupt my body by forcing an overdrive of testosterone through a man's system, turning that weak only after a second of doubled strength.

Even if my biological clock was stopped, I was a boy nonetheless, so I took no chances and swatted it away. It bounced off, unintentionally floating on Zelos, who at the moment had just finished casting an Air Thrust spell on an unsuspecting Thunder Sword.

When it hit, it caused Zelos to suddenly leap up and yell "No one can resist the sexiness of the great Zelos" before he suddenly slumped, staggering. "Ohhh… "he moaned, as the testosterone left him, "Nooo… how can I be defeated…"

_Never mind,_ I thought.

The lamia was attempting to fire off a spell at me, but I gave its head a slice the managed to go in an eighth of the neck's length before obstructed by the thickness of the lamia's neck. Screeching, it made me wince yet again as my ears set to ringing- I was sure I'd be deafened for an hour, until I could grow back hearing capabilities in my ear. Yes, we Damasci could do that. I pity the ones who are permanently lost to hearing after one spell of destructively loud noise.

Thankfully, nobody else would have to experience hearing loss- Since the lamia's cry was high pitched, only I was feeling it. Oh well. There's a sacrifice that's expendable.

I ripped out the tip, and hacked hard from the side. Before it had another chance to deafen me _and_ cause pain, I slugged it full in the mouth with my right fist.

Reeling, and carrying me along with it, I gave the freak of nature a dropkick that let me pull out my blade before I treated it for Damnation and finally a Dual Dominating Blade that shredded it apart, tail and all.

That's when I felt all the hair on my head stiffen, and I knew something was wrong, or at least going to turn out very badly.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Zelos who had yowled and received (With some hesitation) a recover spell from Raine, removing his heavy weakness from his system. That enabled him to charge into battle yet again as he seemed to imagine himself a knight in shining armor to others, hacking away and using a Victory Light Spear or various other techniques when necessary.

After smashing away a pesky skeleton with a Sonic Thrust, he turned, and…

He saw one of the most extreme sights of his life.

His eyes had fallen on Kendal, who had just been trapped by a sphere of cackling electricity. At the Academy at Sybak, he had reviewed a list of spells- All standard ones, to be sure- And he had seen the one he was observing now, the Spark Wave. Enclosing the target in a sphere of highly volatile interloping currents of lightning, it made for great pain if the target happened to have anything touching the outer edge, where the lightning was most focused.

Zelos could see that running away was useless- The spell, probably cast by a lamia, was already beginning to transmit the electricity through the sphere of mana. The only option, then, was to attempt to use a defensive spell that most likely wouldn't last the entire spell.

Or was it?

The next moment, the redhead found that question to be true. As the current flowed, Kendal did a single, short hop to the approximate center of the spell, curled himself into a ball- And was suddenly suspended as lightning crackled around him as blue flowed over his clothes.

Incredibly, this spectacle stopped the battle completely, as monster, human, and half-elf looked on in shock as Kendal looked as if he was creating the spell. Even Lloyd, who had absolutely no studies in spells, was thinking that Kendal had to have created that- But everyone already knew that a rouge lamia that nobody had bothered to whack had casted it.

The spell ended, the lightning fading off- And with it, a brown clothed/headed fugitive fell down to earth on his back, the ball he had been curled up in instantly crashing open on impact.

**VWVWVWVWV**

It's not to say I escaped from the spell completely unscathed- I had accidentally over jumped, so I was caught up in the outskirts of the top of the lightning "shell" created from the spell.

So, yes, numbness had set in on my back- The reason why I had just "burst open" the moment I hit the ground. Because I had almost no control over my back.

"Damn spell almost caused me cardiac arrest," I growled, and sat up.

The next moment, a Thunder Sword, not knowing any better, attempted to hack head off with a wild swing. Of course I dodged that- But by then, my eyes were blazing as I turned slowly to face my metallic attacker…

Something whacked me across the face.

I just tilted my head there for a moment, wondering who the hell would have the nerve, until I looked down and spotted the culprit- A gold colored rib, obviously launched by a skeleton.

"You people are so dead," I said, eyes blazing, not realizing that most of the things we were fighting were already dead. Only animated. Or something. Well, no, I forgot about the 'already-dead-thing' by then, but that, for the matter, was a really bad pun.

Carnage reigned as I started rampaging around.

**VWVWVWVWV**

By the time the carnage was over, every person in the little party had been run over at least once in Kendal's wild dashing thrusts and slices.

It was a tribute to Kendal's limited self-control during this 'tantrum' that he didn't kill his own allies- He barely managed to stop himself before his wildly-swinging blade hacked off an arm or leg or head. Well, that didn't stop anybody being trampled on, but…

Hey, it was better than moaning in a bloody puddle.

When the carnage ended, with bones, tails, and pieces of scrap metal everywhere, Kendal stopped, looked around, and simply said "That's what people deserve when they piss me off."

He didn't mention that what he had just terminated with utmost prejudice wouldn't count as people if under consideration by most experts.


	45. Zaping, freezings, oh the horror!

Raine: (bursting on scene) RAWR!

Me: (turns) Oh hello, my dear now-humble-

Raine: RAWR! RAWR! I AM ANGRY! ANGRY ANGRY ANGRY!

Sheena: (sweatdrop) Err… Are you _sure _those people did the surgery right?

Me: I'm not sure… (sweatdrop)

Raine: (attempts to maul random people)

Kendal: RUN AWAY! (all run for their life)

Raine: (left alone) RAWR! WHAAAAT! I WANT TO KILL RANDOM PEOPLE!

* * *

By the time everybody had finished nursing their wounds, Zelos, not bothering even though luck had it that he be trampled on not once, not twice, but _three_ times, once on the crotch, was back to old habits. As in, hitting on girls.

In this case, a tiny one.

I had long since figured that if dear Zelos could hit on every person that was of the opposite of his gender, the _every_ part of that phrase meant not even children were exempt from his list of hittings.

And so, he waltzed to Presea, straight out, and attempted to woo her with a "Hello, my dear princess. Are you fine? Wounds to be tended to, my dear hunnie?"

Well, the little girl didn't blink before smashing his little attempt with a robotic "Incorrect usage of the word 'hunnie'. Corrections necessary."

Then, she blushed and said, "Oh, I'm sorry Zelos-"

The damage had been done. Thoroughly miffled, the redhead slunk back in shame.

Others were hooting silently as Zelos walked sadly, mumbling "Man, the girls are too serious these days. Why can't I woo a birdbrain?"

Nobody- At least for the girls- was hooting anymore when they heard that. Then again, that didn't count Presea, given she had simply blinked in confusion when others had started choking with glee, so that would just be Raine and Sheena.

Screeching with rage over being indirectly mentioned as birdbrains, they almost trampled me in an attempt to maul- violently and with vicious intent- Zelos.

Poor Zelos, actually thinking they wanted to swoon in his arms, was totally oblivious to their red faces and ticked-off expressions- And especially their loud, loud voices.

By the time they walked off in a huff, you could barely recognize the guy amid the black-and-blue bruises and swelling. That didn't count for the kicks to crotch, which I suspected might have done more damage than any other violent motion preformed in the last fifteen seconds.

Because Raine was the group's healer, Zelos was the group's secondary healer and nobody was coming forward with any gels for use, I decided to temporarily abandon my anti-Zelos rhetoric for the sake of the whole.

I walked over. Immediately, everybody perked up, because I was already known for my anti-Zelos record- So, what torture next would I cook up?

The exact opposite of torture, really. Because I stood over him, closed my eyes, concentrated, felt the heat in my thumb and middle fingers of my left hand begin to burn , and snapped my fingers.

The white, glowing spark fluttered down, like a feather, and landed on Zelos's arm.

It really didn't matter where it landed- The spark was so concentrated of healing magic that it spread its energy through out the body of its intended victim (In a good way) in rapid bursts. Before their eyes, Zelos quickly changed from half-dead and covered with black-and-blue bruises to totally healthy, with all the blood disappearing as well- A side effect due to the sheer intensity of the spark. No blood is left uncleaned, even if it's dried blood.

Well, to end it on a bad note, the SOB was already knocked out when I had preformed my act of charity. Groaning, I rapped him on the forehead with a jab from my left- I had no intention of being indicted for brain damage through wild use of a metallic utensil.

He turned, groaned, mumbled an indistinct phrase ("Mommy, gimme five more minutes") and turned over. Which was an invitation for more roughhousing.

In the form of a vicious stomp to the stomach. Popping up with a scream, he spun ten times through air and somehow manage to clip me in the face with an accidental backhand that twisted my head in a 90 degree sudden turn that did so. And then, I slowly adjusted my head back to back its beginning position, where I stood there wondering why the hell had he just slapped me.

"NOOOO!!!" He screamed, looking wildly around. "DON'T HURT ME DON'T HURT ME DON'T-"

When he stopped, he suddenly realized I was there, with a rather stupid expression on my face. Yeah, I admit it. I was looking pretty stupid just standing there after a flirt backhands me.

He must have realized that he had crossed a sacred line with hitting me, the one and only me, because he shut up and started backing away, up the flight of stairs that was right behind him and that most likely led deeper into the temple.

He would have most likely backed for a mile if there was that much open space for him to back out into, if he hadn't triggered a switch behind him.

A "click" and suddenly a lightning rod that I had never noticed before burst into brilliance as a blot struck it- And then, behind him, I saw a ball of lightning speed towards him.

_KZZAKKK. _

With a weird look on his face which would better suit the words "What the hell just happened," Zelos Wilder crumpled, with no eyes closed. Amazing.

Everybody sped up that platform to see what had just happened, jostling me until I almost stepped on the switch, in which I yelped "DAMMIT, STOP FUCKING PUSHING ME!"

That stopped everyone, so I was able to hustle away from the switch which was a foot long in diameter and was even more dangerous when you looked where the lightning shot had come from- A tri-pronged metal attachment to the lightning rod right in front of us that was only two feet off the ground- Therefore, given how large the orb of lightning was, not even ducking or jumping over the sphere (In most cases for jumping) could save you from a very nasty shock.

"What happened?" Sheena asked as we dragged Zelos's body from the narrow walkway to the bigger one we were on.

"He stepped on the switch," I said, "And so he got shot by one of those lightning spheres. So, right now he's incapacitated."

Murmurs of shock spread through the group. "If that shall block our course further into the building, what can we do?" Regal asked. "Because the lightning here is constant…"

I nodded. "Lightning strikes higher ground if there not a magnet anywhere, and if we're going to get past it we can't jump- We'll be higher than the lightning rod, and we'll be crispy toast for sure."

"Lightning strikes higher ground," Raine mused. "So, what would happen if there was a lightning rod on that platform right there?" She asked, pointing at the second "floating platform" to the right of the main, narrow walkway.

There was another one of those to our left, but it was lower than us, even if it did have a lightning rod. And a shooter that was pointing at a block-

_Wait, what? _

"Hey, doesn't that lightning rod over there with a shooter that point at a block look suspicious-"

Well, no, it was. The next moment, I spotted a Sorcerer's Ring altar.

"So, yeah. It is."

I hurried over the right platform, drawing inquiries that I ignored, and lo and behold a lightning rod. With the rod hidden under a layer of plastic. An obvious precaution part of the puzzle, to prevent lightning from striking the rod anyway (Since the metal was still exposed). So, I pressed what seemed like the right button…

A hiss, and the lightning rod shot up. Backing away, I was blinded almost immediately by a bolt that struck the rod, temporarily giving the metal a glow.

"Got it," I called, and hopped down the steps. Barging past the others to yet more whiny protests, I waved a dismissal hand at them, the universal sign for "I'm not listening" and stepped on the switch, noting it's muted _click_.

Immediately, yells of "Watch out!" and "Run!" started deafening my eardrums. Not that it was unfounded- I mean, they hadn't seen what I had done up there, and I myself wasn't sure if it would work. In case it didn't, I was perfectly prepared to dive down the stairs to safety-

A distant _KZZAK_. Nothing near me. Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked over to the other side, shoved the button to make the rod holder retract its magnet, and walked back, stepping on the switch yet again.

Another shock that came from the shooter over on higher ground. Whatever.

"Time to go knock the block off," I muttered, and hurried to the third lightning rod.

**VWVWVWVWV**

The moment everybody entered the main chamber, Sheena gasped.

"I remember," she said. "This is the main chamber. Volt's altar should be in here."

Seeing stairs to both sides of the group, Lloyd charged up the right one…

To find a pack of monsters prowling the walkway- unlike the solid ground the foundations of the stairs rested on. Without further ado, Lloyd charged at them.

Or WOULD have, if I hadn't tripped him.

The brunnete, slammed right on his nose, which initiated a very ominous sounding _bong_ through the main chamber.

Immediately, monsters started looking around for the source of the disturbance. Well, both of them, if you counted for the fact that somehow he managed to scream loudly in pain, which gave them the reference point they needed to see us.

They could see their glittering eyes as they faced me and Lloyd, still on the ground. From the other side of the chamber, on the second walkway up to Volt's altar, monsters were now stiffening as they attempted to find some quick food to kill and eat.

Meaning us. If they, as in the monsters, were lucky.

Most likely, they wouldn't be. But because the walkway was pretty much for three-at-a-time only, the numbers game was murdered for both of us- We couldn't support each other, nor could we cast spells in fears it could hit one of us or even cause the walkway to collapse.

Then again, they came in high numbers, so their numbers game was significantly more botched than ours. That wasn't exactly what you could call a comfort, though…

What was called for was a technique that could sweep them all in one burst- Preferably an Air Blade or Aqua Laser. But that wouldn't work, because part of the burst would have part of the burst on the walkway, gouging it out completely.

So, something else was to be called for.

"Aww," Lloyd whined, "C'mon, lemme at'em-"

"Shut up," I snapped, and crossed my arms.

Yes. Something else indeed. Whatever I was going to do, I hoped they wouldn't gape at me too much.

**VWVWVWVWV**

The rest of the group crashed up the stairs.

Bad move. The monsters, now having _three_ sounds from which to reference to for new meat, was now marked with a perfectly large red bullseye. At least maybe that's how they imagined it. If they had known what was on the other end of the walkway.

They would have gotten out their weapons, and foolishly marched off to battle…

If Kendal hadn't been glowing with a soft, light blue light (Yeah, well…).

Not that it was something new- In reality, it could never truly be seen in daylight. This gave the group a prime example to observe the small amount of waste mana being generated as he collected and refined it to an element of his choosing.

"What's going on?" Raine asked, ogling at the sight.

As Raine only casted light/healing magic and nothing else, she had no experience in the realm of most offensive spells. Therefore, everyone then turned to Genis, who happened to be lost in a trance of amazement.

"That light…" he murmured, racking his brains to find which element was represented by light blue light (There it is again…).

He remembered. Ice magic.

But there was something wrong. Where were the runes? He wanted to ask that and ten thousand other things, but to be sure, he was scared to say anything, lest he break Kendal's concentration.

The monsters were now only thirty feet away. If they had known what was going on in Kendal's mind, they'd hear one phrase:

_Perfect. Cannon fodder. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Blizzard… CANNON!"

The moment I said that, I raised my right arm, slightly stiff from ten seconds of staying stiff. No problems, though.

Runes appeared, made from ice, carved in intricate patterns, covered with runes from Ancient Elvish, also known by more bigoted people as angelic.

The runes above me took shape, in a sort of two-dimensional eight leafed rose, its "petals" curved in a spiral counter clockwise, if you were looking at it from top-down. The entire thing was as large as me, just barely an inch above from the floor, if I had lowered it at my assailants. Which I did.

Suddenly rotating, a torrent of wind burst upwards from the rose, frigid cold air to be exact.

Stage two. I lowered my arm, therefore adjusting the "rose" (Which followed my hand) and put my left hand on my right to help support it.

Immediately, the column of spiraling air focused on the monsters. They cringed at the cold (All except the skeletons, which had no nerves obviously- Just bones and nothing else) but kept going, although the winds pushed them back. After all, when something blasts eighty miles per hour your way, what else?

One second after the air was blasted at them, the rose began to shatter- From the edges, the fragments blasted off and started slashing its way through the monsters. Shrieking in pain, they attempted to block- But the disintegrating fragments of ice penetrated through their guard, letting the blood flow. Pulsing with magic, they didn't just attack head on- They were designed to weave around targets while still keeping in contact with them. So, the shards whipped to the side, always going forward while still doing heavy damage.

Finally, all that was left was the center- With a loud crrrnshk it smashed apart, and blasted away in the now-settling winds. However, the pieces, the largest, kept going at top speed as they crashed through cursed flesh, metal, and bone.

When the spell was finished (In ten seconds) all that was left of the ones who had tried to get at us were a single lamia, which was almost dead anyway, a battered Thunder Sword, and a Lightning Bird, all down, trying to get up (Unless you counted the sword, which was really trying to stay afloat without tilting to one side).

A simple Superslicer (Three seconds) did the deed- They were all lined up, so the edge easily cut through the lamia, clashed briefly with the charged metal of the Thunder Sword before slashing it in two, and ripping off a wing of the Lightning Bird.

"That's a wrap," I said mildly, and began walking to the next flight of stairs that led up to an altar- Which had to be Volt's.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I had always known that although spells like Air Thrust, Spread, and Eruption were powerful, their one weakness was that they could never hit people in syzygy.

Well, stuff like Air Blade and Aqua Laser ruled the argument (Over which spell was superior blahblahblah) in that kind of situation, but it was so brief. Sure, they cut through rock with a knife through water, but then fifty meters and that's it. Bah.

And besides, who wanted the permanently scarred landscapes they left in their wake?

So, I developed a spell that wouldn't harm nature (Unless you counted trees unlucky enough to get stuck in the line of fire- Err, sorry, line of _ice_), could last farther than a measly fifty meters, and, most of all, have power _and_ the ability to hit people along a line at the same time. Instant winner right there.

Stepping on the altar's level, I paused in reverence to look around me at the temple. This was the place of Volt, the spirit of lightning. I lowered my head and said a traditional prayer under my breath in Ancient Elvish- _Shrendia zorenb iselw qotri _(Gods, give us your blessing).

The next moment, as if they heard me, lightning blasted through the temple, one two three six bolts in quick succession.

While the others cowered at the lightning, I stood in reverence, wondering if they really had listened.

Maybe not. The next moment, something struck besides me. Looking at the spot, I discovered a burn patch. Apparently, luck had seen fit to almost electrocute me. I shuddered. I hated lightning, because my race had one weakness- That. Our nerves, fine tuned to the world, easily overloaded from electricity, instantly giving us heart attacks if it was severe enough. To be exact, it was the same amount that could give a heart attack to any regular human.

Regular, as in no exsphere.

So, to make thing short in this lethal hellhole…

"Look," I said hurriedly to the rest of them, "We have to break those blocks-" I pointed to a stack where a lightning rod was sitting on the top "And activate the rod."

"Why can't you get up there yourself?" Lloyd complained.

"Too scared?" Zelos added snidely.

I poked him in the solar plexus when nobody was looking.

"Would you like for me to be electrocuted to a crisp?" I asked sarcastically. "Who's going to be closest to the lightning rod? Me. Does that and my previous comment ring any bell?"

It did.

"So, can we please break this block on the bottom?"

With what, I had no idea- But thankfully, Lloyd, not as dumb as everybody thought, he stepped forward, and fired a Sorcerer's Ring burst. The burst, this time blue lightning, blasted the block into pieces…

And dropped two other blocks on the altar with a rumble.

"Can we go now?" I asked, and practically dived down the stairs.

* * *

DRAMA!

Kendal: What now? Another crazy idea, just like the insane Raine? Hey, that rhymes...

Me: Well, no, next chapter is a huge fight scene. Which is always good to know.;D


	46. Thunderous confrontation

This chapter features a… OMG HUGE FIGHT SCENE W00T!

Kendal: Lemme guess- Large amount of pain involved.

Everyone: (readies bandages)

Me: Nope.

Everyone: PARTAY BABY!

Me: Yes.

Everyone: (drops dead)

Me: MUWAHAHA! No disappointing the readers. So, I don't own anything related to Tales of Symphonia except this story… Okay, sort of, and Kendal. I retain ownership of the brown guy.

* * *

After five hours of aimless wandering, the death and destruction of more packs of monsters, cases of almost-lethal lightning strikes, which got their name for almost hitting, and a display of a new Combination Special Technique (As in, Destructive Damnation) later, we finally shocked and busted the last red block-

And promptly called for lunch.

That wasn't exactly a good idea to chow right next to the altar, as it was one of the highest places in the temple, since lightning always strikes higher ground first.

So, we had our fill underneath it, therefore keeping ourselves protected from any lightning strike luck wanted to throw at us.

Here we were, another hour in the temple. Growing apprehensive by the fact that we _still_ in here without defeating Volt yet, I was up, pacing around like an alley cat. Obviously, they wanted some R&R beforehand, but I couldn't stand the thought of staying in here where the risk of cardiac arrest was one in two.

To be sure, I wasn't the only one restless to get the hell out of here. Sheena was too, but for more apparent reasons to the group- Mine, you wouldn't know unless you had access to information concerning "Damasci" up in Derris-Kharlan.

Or, if I told you. Which I simply had too much pride to do so.

Another thunderbolt. This time, it struck directly above Sheena, drawing a shriek that made me fall over like a rag doll, twitching there until I heard Sheena mumble "Let's… get that pact and finish it fast…"

I silently thanked Sheena for bailing me out, and hustled up the stairs. The left side, instead of the right this time.

Another monster pack. Wondering if I could kill three of them in one Superslicer, I threw back my blade…

And let it go. The edge burst into the group, hacking in two a Thunder Sword, devastating lethally a Lamia by snagging it in the side before it was spun off, slashing off a Lightning Bird's wings, and finally completely crashing through a skeleton, which promptly burst into pieces.

I whistled. Not three, but four down.

Alone, I charged into the disoriented crowd. Lashing out, I ripped off a skeleton's arm, dislodging also a collarbone in the process. Continuing my churning rush of violence, I yelled "Wolf Fang" and jammed my blade straight through a lamia's chest. With a Blade Rocket, I snagged of Lightning Bird and came down in a flurry, scattering them all and blasting away the thoroughly shredded raptor of electricity.

By now, the others had came up the stairs, and they were marveling at the carnage, courtesy of me. Not wanting for me to hot the glory, Lloyd rushed in, madly entering the fray with a Tempest- A particular family of techniques that I envied but vowed to never anyone that.

Noticing a skeleton going topsy- As in, like a berserk, heavily-armed ballerina- Right behind Lloyd, I decided to spare the items and just murder that thing beforehand. So, walking to right in front of where it would be in four seconds…

"Wolf…" I stabbed it through a rib, promptly shattering it and stopping the reanimated shell of bones right in midair-

"Fang PULSE!" With that final point of emphasis the tip of my cleaver's focused point of mana imploded, driving me back but promptly blasting the skeleton apart- Since the tip was inside the rib cage, I had been pretty much destroyed it from the inside with that final explosion.

Looking around, I saw a flotilla of fireballs pass over my head as Genis and Zelos, unconsciously collaborating, launched the same spell over my head to lay the smack down on a lamia that Lloyd was having particular trouble overpowering.

Speaking of lamias, I noticed on casting a spell. Same one for the millionth time I saw- A Spark Wave. No problems- A simply flick of wrist sent an Aeroslicer forth, which dug its way into monster flesh before disintegrating. The monster spellcaster, indignant from being interrupted from casting its spell and in pain from what _had_ interrupted the spell casting started looking around for the culprit-

And was promptly shoulder rammed by me, right over the edge of the walkway with a screech.

The screech was cut off by a rather nasty sounding _splat, _so I didn't bother looking. Jumping up and delivering a snap heelkick to an SOB Lightning Bird that was marauding around, I then dropkicked the same lamia that was giving Lloyd hell and high water- Right into a Raging Beast.

Blown apart, its blood and guts didn't reach me, as I had gone Ghost and promptly entered my own realm, where everything moved at an inch's pace. Sidestepping the blast of greenish blood, I casually tripped a skeleton so its rib cage would then be right above the initial spike of a Grave, courtesy of Genis.

I closed my eyes, ending my massive mana output and reverting myself, both body and mind, to normal time and watched the chaos I had caused with satisfaction.

**VWVWVWVWV**

In a few minutes, they were standing before Volt's altar, where just one, unobtrusive lightning rod stood.

Lloyd, not sure if he was about to get killed, tentatively got out one of his old pairs of wood swords, as wood didn't conduct electricity, and poked the switch.

A hiss, and the metal shot up. A moment later, a lightning bolt struck it, bathing the entire chamber with light.

Floating down…

A ball of light, with cold, red eyes. A body that looked like a pair of fangs, covered with a mantle of static- Or whatever it was, any form of electricity.

"Here I go," Sheena mumbled, the first to recover from the shock of seeing Volt's dramatic entrance, and walked up to the altar, past Lloyd.

A buzz filled the air.

Well, that's what seemed like a buzz. In reality, it was a veiled version of Ancient Elvish.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"It's just like before!" Sheena cried. "What the hell is he saying!?"

"Sheena, calm down," Raine said. "I'll translate."

"Yeah," I muttered, "Well so can I."

Volt had said "_I am the one bound to Mithos. Who are you?_" Albeit with a buzzy accent.

"Mithos again?" Lloyd asked in shock. "How could he make pacts with Summon Spirits in both Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla?"

"Maybe he traveled across the dimensions with a Rheaird," Genis mused.

I was about to tell them off, in annoyance, that obvious he hadn't when the two worlds were one, but I caught myself. No need for shock, not here of all times.

Well, later, maybe I would, some other less stressful time. For now, time to listen to Volt's speech. It was hard to understand already, with the buzzing, so why muse about something totally irrelevant issue compared to _now_? I didn't want to miss a word.

"I am Sheena!" She said, in a clear, shaky voice. "I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and form a new pact with me."

Another buzz. "_My pact is broken. But I desire no pact._"

As Raine finished telling Sheena that, she yelped "Why!?"

A new buzz. "_I will have no more dealings with people, therefore I desire no pact._"

"No!" Sheena snapped, raising her cards. "We need your help!"

One more brief buzz. "_Begone!_"

As soon as I heard that, I realized that the air was now throbbing with mana, ready to be released.

_Damn, he's gonna-_

I threw my hands up in a cross, hoping desperately that I could weather the attack that had to come, dimly away that Lloyd had yelled "Sheena! Be careful!"

A moment later, lightning began to fall…

**VWVWVWVWV**

Raine had realized the same thing that Kendal had, but was too scared to manage to attempt a defensive technique.

Volt's eyes flared as mana blasted outward from the ball-shaped entity, in a wall of expanding electricity that lifted all of the group- Except one- Over the edge of the walkway, and down into the hard stone of the chamber floor.

**VWVWVWVWV**

My instincts, the result of a hundred years work of genetic engineering, proved true- The moment my eyesight registered lightning around Volt, I activated Ironside.

The wall smashed against the green sphere that defended me, but couldn't reach inside it. It pushed me back, close to the edge, but I kneeled down and dug in my heels, bringing me to a standstill.

I watched it all through the top open space in the "X" that my arms formed. When it stopped, Volt stopped to look at me for a second, and then finally floated higher…

And started launching the bolts at me.

Diving to the side, I rolled, and hopped on the altar, hoping Volt would have enough respect to his own altar that he'd not attack me.

He did. Instead, he floated down, to the others.

A chill struck me. I rushed over and looked down, just in time to see…

Corrine get nailed by one of Volt's shots.

Stunned, I watched as Sheena screamed "Corrine! Corrine!?" Running over to the fox which had once caused me so much annoyance, she gingerly picked up the smoking body of the Summon Spirit. "Corrine," she moaned, "Why?"

Volt flew around to her back, where he charged up yet another burst of lightning- Before he could launch it, I kicked into gear and threw an Aeroslicer at him.

Volt still managed to launch the shot, though- However, Lloyd jumped and smashed it away, his Saint Rapier sizzling from the heat.

"Sheena!" Lloyd yelled in frustration. "Get a hold of yourself!" Jumping over to another place, he began attempting to engage Volt in an air-to-ground fight, which he obviously couldn't win as he had only ground-based techniques, save his Tempest series. All he could do for now was simply knock away Volt's blasts.

"Sheena," Corrine whispered, struggling for breath, "Volt's… just lost his faith in people. You… have to subdue him…"

"But…!" Sheena said weakly, barely able to stop the flow of tears any longer.

"I'm sorry" Corrine gasped, beginning to become transparent, "I couldn't be of more help…"

He faded away, like all Summon Spirits do when they are defeated. Or, in this case, dead.

She bowed her head over, in shock. In frustration, while launching Aeroslicers at Volt, I was about to throw a piece of metal at her (As in a piece of pipe that consisted of the railing I had somehow hacked off previously), just to get her to fight or simply to get out of the way, as she was useless a target.

Instead, she stood and, with eyes closed, began in a shaky voice "For the sake of Corrine" A swallow "And all those who have protected me" Her voice was getting stronger by the second "I DEMAND YOUR POWER!"

"_Then fight!_"

He really shouldn't have said anything- Sheena was already rushing at him, weaving in a zigzag line across the floor, all while holding her cards at ready.

Figuring out that this was a great time unload on Volt, I started a spell, which I figured would be a good ol' Blizzard Cannon. Crossing my arms, and keeping an eye out for lightning (Not that it would really help, since lightning came at the speed of light, so I decided to rely on luck and crouch down) and Volt's attacks, I watched the pitched battle play out below.

Sheena, being very agile thanks to her ninja heritage, was jumping and hacking easily at Volt at seemingly impossible heights for a human. Maybe she chose to use some wires or something. That didn't matter, as now Volt was on the ground, stunned from a lucky Pyre Seal aimed at the ground.

Hopefully, that would keep Volt stuck on the ground…

Thwaks, hisses of pain, and zaps- Those were the sound of the one-sided melee taking place on the floor, although the electricity that surrounded Volt hindered their efforts. Still, they kept him downed and stunned, unable to dodge, unable to fight.

I completed the mana charge. Time for electricity to succumb to ice.

"Blizzard…" I stood up, and pointed my arm up allowing the "rose" to form-

"CANNON!"

I thrusted my arm over the railing, downwards first, as to not shatter the rose, and held my, er, shooting arm still from the intense vibration that came with casting a spell this complex.

**VWVWVWVWV**

_Thukthukthuk_

That was the sound of ice was it slammed into the floor, but not before it gouged at the body of the Spirit of Lightning.

Jumping out of the line of fire, the rest of the group proceeded to fire ranged attacks at Volt, from Demon Fangs, Pinion Seals, Destruction debris, various elemental spells, and in Regal's case, smashing back loose rocks that bounced back from Volt, produced courtesy of Presea and her Destruction techniques.

Once it stopped, Volt, ignoring the fact that he was being pummeled to bits in his newfound rage, rose up, runes emanating from him.

"_Spark Wave_" is what Raine heard. "Get off there!" Raine yelled at Kendal above, who was right now realizing that Volt was looking at _him_ and not anybody else. Not even Sheena.

As the sphere of electricity took shape, Kendal, disregarding height, dived straight over the railing, headfirst. Flipping over in the air, he was able to make a wobbly landing on his feet, collapsing his knees to better land. Breathing a sigh of relief-

It gushed out the moment he realized a faint crackling was right above his head. Slowly looking up, he saw Volt right above him, staring him down.

"_Strike!_"

Something nobody had ever seen happen before occurred right there- A line of rapidly advancing lightning bolt blasted down. Kendal, exploiting the fact it was only advancing in a straight line, sidestepped it, but was immediately forced to sidestep again thanks to yet another Strike.

Zelos, attempting to advance the ladies and shame Kendal, charged at Volt, yelling "You can't stop the great Zelos-"

He did. With a buzzy "_Cardinal Strike_," lightning blasted from all four directions of Volt, catching Zelos with all six bolts of a Strike line, him being the very first of experience that nastiness of getting hit with all bolts of a strike, which stopped him in his tracks. The irony did not occur to him as he swayed and fell down, spewing spit and gibberish, however.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I, having dodged the zillionth electric-based attack for that day, was obviously pretty pissed off.

With a roar, I leaped up, my blade over my head, poised to slam Volt down with enough force to make a crater on the floor.

It didn't hit, mainly because Volt triggered something beneath him. The only clue to what it was?

"_Master Field_."

Lightning crashed down all around him, 360 degrees of protection. I was caught in the middle of it, before I dropped to the floor like a ragdoll.

Wondering how much I was deadened, nerve-wise, I tried moving a wrist. Barely any movement. I was in the worst fix possible, my opponent was based on an element that was my bane, and he could now finish me off whenever he wanted to- I couldn't even move a finger, much less my legs or even my sides for rolling away. Only a slow breath and a reduced heart rate were the only things I would feel.

"Oh woe," I said dizzily- I could still control my mouth, thankfully, "He's gonna shoot me dead."

They heard.

The next moment, Lloyd buzzed over, me, having blasted forward by the effects of an Omega Tempest. The thing was, he stopped right above me, his blades whirling barely and inch from my chest.

And then he lifted upwards and off me, driving Volt up to the ceiling, letting me let go of an unconsciously held breath that came from almost getting hacked at, with no way to dodged- Something that hadn't happened to me in years upon years.

I tried to move my wrist again. It worked, but I could barely even feel any other parts of my body, so I was still a helpless sitting duck with wings chopped off.

As feeling slowly returned to me, I reminded myself that normally, people felt pain before the numbness set in. Unfortunately, I contemplated grimly, Damasci skipped that step, going right into paralysis with no warning.

Screw that. Right now, I had to get up. Struggling, I managed to put my arms behind me, no easy feat since they were half-limp, and shoved myself up to a sitting position.

Still no feeling in my legs. I noticed my cleaver a few feet away from me, which must have spun out of my grip while I got hit by the Master Field.

"I summon the Maiden of the Mist-"

_WHAAAATTT???_

"Come, Undine!"

I noticed Sheena, right besides me, the moment she summoned dear Undine.

Appearing besides me, she flicked her hand, and pretty much blasted me with spray. About to whine in protest, I suddenly realized that every muscle and nerve in my body was now totally functional.

"Okaaaayyy…" I said slowly, turning to Sheena. "What the hell just happened?"

She ignored me. "Undine, destroy Volt. For Corrine's sake."

I tittered slightly. Volt was _really_ in for the worst thrashing he'd ever experienced in the history of the world.

"Spread!" Undine called.

Immediately, water began bubbling under Volt. The lightning spirit, however, buzzed backwards, as he immediately preformed a Strike right down at the column of water that was meant to have pulverized him.

The water, however, didn't become electrified as with Undine it was pure, with no minerals and therefore no charge. Water didn't conduct electricity, contrary to popular thought- The minerals in it did.

Another Spread exploded under Volt, which was dodged- This time, it pushed Volt against a wall. An Air Thrust, originating just above the ball of electricity, forced the spirit to the ground, almost.

A perfect situation for a Superslicer, even if Volt was right in front of a door.

I threw back my blade behind me with both hands as I strained my body, to allow the most possible speed.

Another Spread spell was forming, right under Volt. Lloyd, being both bold and lucky, landed a Beast on Volt, slamming him into the frame but not actually breaking through it. Downed and dizzy, Volt had no idea that the next few seconds would consist of pain. Lots of it.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Genis, popping an orange gel into his mouth, had just swallowed it when he saw both Kendal and Undine, unnoticed by anybody except the rogue in question.

Undine had runes around her that were already expanding and growing fainter as the spell manifested itself. Kendal's form was mostly hidden by the glow of his blade, but his face, thrown backwards, looked as if he was getting ready to feast on something close to… _Pain_. Wide open eyes, clenched teeth, and a mouth turned in a very, very evil grin.

A pool of bubbling water. Under Volt, it wobbled the ball-shaped spirit, turning him something close to a ball buffeted by wind. The humor, however, was missed, given the fact Volt was stunned and that there was little light in the temple, save Volt's crackling form, and even that was obscured mainly by Kendal and Undine (The were now the only ones standing between him and the rest of the group, given Lloyd had ran away to wait for his next chance to strike).

**VWVWVWVWV **

The moment where both me and the Summon Spirit's attacks were simultaneously ready to go shoot and kill somebody. And so we did. We shot, they hit, but we didn't kill anybody.

The Superslicer, bursting from the edge of my cleaver the moment it slammed into the ground, struck the same moment as the Spread blasted upwards. Slammed directly into the frame, trapped by the unrelenting force of the Superslicer, Volt was further struck by Undine's Spread, which demolished the doorway but carried Volt so far up in the air he slammed right into the ceiling, not bursting through but creating a Volt-sized dent, before it floated down, in a dazed manner.

Undine, getting the nod from Sheena, disappeared with a flash, as Undine's supply of mana was now exhausted anyway.

A buzz. "_This battle's end is near… I feel it. Let this round begin!_"

With that, Volt floated high, very high into the air, where he then started throwing down the bolts, along with Thunder Blades and the spheres of Spark Waves and techniques of Volt's own design, including the much hated Master Field (Yes, he could do it up in the air too). And nobody could stop him, save a spell, but how could we cast under fire- Err, lightning?

Then I saw it. The walkway surrounding Volt's altar. I could jump off it to get Volt down on the ground.

Without a second thought, I charged up the stairs.

**VWVWVWVWV**

With the barrage of Thunder Blades and others various dangerous items, Genis was _not_ in a good mood. Volt had just stolen when spellcasters needed most- A safe spot away from attacks. And worse, Volt was at a height where not ever Omega Tempests could reach him- Lloyd tried it, and promptly paid for it as a victim of a Master Field.

And even worse? When Volt started to cast something that took not the usual second for the spirit of lightning, but three.

A buzz. Raine instantly understood it, and it made the blood drain away from her face.

"Run!" She cried in terror. "Volt's casting Indignation!"

Kendal, Raine noticed, was rooted to the spot. Somehow, she knew that he had instantly understood what Volt had said- How was that-?

All questions were instantly dashed away when a light began pulsing just above their heads, signifying the origin of the giant bolt that was yet to come.

"Move!" Raine cried. "If you get hit by that bolt, you'll be instantly killed!"

Maybe that was an overstatement, but who knew- Volt _was _the Spirit of Lightning, so who did know whether the bolt would kill or not kill?

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Great," I grumbled. "He pulls out his trump card."

And even worse, I saw Genis stuck in the center of the blast zone, casting a spell.

Apparently, since Volt had given him the worst thing he hated, as in, exercise, Genis had been so fed up with the Spirit of Lightning that he might have been willing to take any chance to stop running and start casting.

Idiot. Now, everybody was circling the boundary of the Indignation-induced light and therefore marker for its blast zone, yelling at him to move. With, unfortunately, no effect, given that he was mumbling "Shut up" to every plea to run (Well, I couldn't exactly hear him, given the noise level and the fact if you mumble you do it quietly, but I lip-read. No sound, no problem).

I racked my brains, looking for a solution and in the process pushing my mind into overdrive, slowing down everything around me, but I hardly noticed it.

Within this 'internal time,' my mind was going faster inside it, my synapses flaring again and again and again, formulating ideas that same rate I was shooting them down. And for those who don't know, that's pretty damn fast.

I knew that if I tried charging down there to shove Genis out of the way, I'd get myself trapped and kill myself, pretty much. The Master Field would be nothing compared to that- That had left me with an almost totally numbed body, but it hadn't been able to stop my heart and lungs from slogging through the loads of stiff muscle. The shock I'd get from the bolt that was going to hit would instantly shut those down, and cause to me black out from sudden shock overload of the nerves concerning that brain, if it was lucky (Hey, the head was the one area that was on par with the rest of me concerning electricity) - But how do you black out when technically you're already dead, permanently unconscious? And besides, shoving him out of the way most likely wouldn't guarantee the Genis would be out of the blast zone. I couldn't stop Volt- Do that, and Indignation would unleash itself, and maybe off target quite a bit. But Genis would still be at the most high-risk places to be hit, and so would be tossed fifty feet in the air and land with violence. If I tried to yell at him with all the profanity that I could put in a sentence, which would never work, as Genis would plug his ears and keep casting.

Finally, something actually feasible hit me.

Without a second thought, I crossed my arms, and time went back to normal, at least for me.

Let's hope lightning from the land of the dead still obeyed the laws of electromagnetism.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Raine had pretty much given up hope for her brother, and was now preparing a healing spell for after the apocalypse when she heard the _KKKKRRRNSSSHK. _

Without stopping the spell, she turned her head, and saw an incredibly slight.

Kendal, on the walkway, had just cast a spell –What was it again? Ah yes, it was… Static Spike, wasn't it? - And was now finishing it- In this case, causing the static to start striking the spike of highly magnetic metal. Which happened to be right in front of him, originating from the floor right in front of him.

Right now, it was charged to the max. The only thing was…

He had cast the spell in the totally wrong place. And of the wrong element type. Volt was of electricity- Why was Kendal casting an electric spell? And why was the spell based right in front of him, of all places?

Presea was wondering the same thing, but only really analyzing that waste percentage of energy. Obviously, fresh from being a living machine, those habits stuck with her, so for the time being she struck up 'fits' of over calculation.

Genis, opening his eyes in irritation, was immediately greeted with blinding light as he realized two things- One, the group standing at the edge of the circle of light he was in, and two, he was at the very center of it.

Obviously, having have studied every standardized spell, he instantly saw what he was stuck in. He was smack-dab in the middle of the blast zone of an Indignation bolt. In other words, he was going to be shocked by perhaps that strongest spell invented.

It was his own ambition to be skilled cast Indignation- The irony that he was now about to perhaps be killed by the same spell he wanted to master did not occur to him as his concentration was completely destroyed by fright, he didn't even think of running. Not that it would have helped much, but being stuck at ground zero was much worse than being on the outskirts. Maybe if he had actually _tried_ he could have gotten out of the way and still be sent flying by the shockwave- But the fact he hadn't was the only thing that mattered.

Light exploded above Genis- And burned an image into his retinas that would keep him so surprised that he didn't even budge as his ears rang from the thunder. (As with everybody else)

The bolt, which should have slammed right on him, curved in mid-air and continued its path at a glowing, crackling spike of metal (**The Static Spike spike, obviously, as Genis never happened to know Kendal had casted that spell of his- Please pardon the double usage of spike; - The author**).

The shockwave illuminated the spike an instant before it lost its shape, becoming nothing but a puddle of sizzling metal, actively glowing from both its electricity it held and also its heat.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I had always known that I would be the victim of the shockwave that would occur from the strike of the big bad bolt.

I knew that, and I still kept going, in line with my motto "Shoot and be damned the consequences."

So, I was thrown backwards hard enough to feel a rib snap as my head slammed against the wall, instantly inviting darkness to stream out from the edge of my vision.

"Damn you, Genis, you son of a bitch" was the last thing I said before I blacked out. Hey, I was _not_ going to take the pain in silence- He needed to know he'd better not repeat the mistake again, that nitwit. Sometimes like this, I thought was he dumb as a thumb.

Only difference now? Lloyd was _much_ smarter than that tiny kiddie who had an ego that size of Raine's obsession with ruins. Which is as big as… I'll stop now.

* * *

Bit fight scene... CUT!

Kendal: (large injury) Oww...

Me: MEDICS! (medics from nowhere arrive and start First Aiding Kendal)

Genis: (sniffing) WHY DO I LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT HERE!

Me: Don't you seem like one in real life?

Genis: INDIGNATION!


	47. Untitled, because I'M BRAIN DEAD!

An interesting end to the last chapter, reviewers may say? Well, in reality, I wanted to say something about Genis- I sort of despise him, as thinking himself so superior to everybody.

Genis: WHAT?

Me: IT'S F& TRUE!

Genis: RAINE! KILL HIM!

Me: (jumps in cockpit of Metal Gear RAY) I DON'T THINK SO!

Everyone: (hacked up by Metal Gear RAY's water jet cutter)

Me: I don't own anything but Kendal. Who happened to dodge most of them.

Kendal: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING BASTARD!

Me: (cuts him up)

* * *

By the time I woke up, Volt had already been finished off. He was now in the process of vanishing, his pact finally formed with Sheena.

"You did great, Sheena!" Lloyd said brightly.

"All thanks to all of you… and Corrine," She murmured, her fingers sliding over a bell she had taken from Corrine's neck.

Suddenly…

The back of my neck tingled as I felt mana moving in all directions to where Volt was a few seconds ago.

And it wasn't just one type of mana- It was… two distinct types, one which felt tingly and the other wet.

Water and lightning. Why would they be coming together here of all places, where the hand went to lightning and to be of the water element you were to be marked for death just by standing?

As it turns out, it didn't matter. As I sat up, aware of the throbbing pain at the back of my head, Undine and Volt both appeared, with flying sparks.

"_A link between the worlds has been severed just now_," Volt buzzed thoughtfully.

While Raine translated for the others, I racked my brain for the meaning. What DID that mean, anyway? The two worlds, I obviously knew that, but a link- What?

That question was soon answered as Undine spoke. "Mana flows from one world where the Summon Spirits sleep to the one of the awakened. This is the first time Summon Spirits have been awakened in both worlds at the same time-" She paused, before she continued "Because of this, mana has stopped flowing for this link."

"Does that mean," Lloyd said, perking up, "that Tethe'Alla and Sylvarant have stopped competing for each other's mana?"

I remembered his vow at Tiga's. Had it really been barely a week after he had said he wanted to stop the system?

Well, apparently, now he had his chance…

"_I do not know_," Volt buzzed. "_We only know that the flow of mana has begun to sever. Eventually the worlds shall separate._"

With that final note, as Raine translated for the others, both Summon Spirits disappeared.

A silence. Then I exploded. Just remembering how I slammed into the wall incensed me- The walkway, barely able to hold our weight now (I checked) just because of the idiocy of one half-elf.

"Hey, Genis," I said sarcastically, "Nice job."

Genis, genuinely confused, replied "What?"

"Nice job giving me a concussion with you stupidity back there. Where's the medal, anyway?"

Lloyd, as Genis's best friend, instantly knowing what I was talking about, tried to reason with me. "Genis heard us, but-"

"And he told us to shut up, didn't he?" I asked in mock shock, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But," Lloyd protested, but only weakly- He knew he was fighting a losing battle in the field of reason.

Genis, while his best friend was quaking in the spotlight, tried to bail both of them out, himself and his friend. "I was just casting a spell, a quick one that would have gotten through before the bolt could have hit me," he said, throwing a defiant look at me. "If they hadn't all been yelling at me and screwing up my concentration, I could have finished it, and run away before I could get hit-"

"Evidence of falsehood detected," Presea intoned immediately.

Genis turned to his crush, hurt. "N-no, I'm not lying," he said in a wobbly voice.

"Genis," Raine sighed, "We all know you have great powers of concentration. There is no reason you can say you were distracted trying to cast a low-level spell like you say."

"I was trying to cast Lightning-!" Genis blustered wildly.

That's when I pounced. "It's obvious you're lying, little boy, cuz Lightning is useless against Volt the Spirit of Lightning."

"I know that!" Genis yelled, totally out of control now.

"Then why did you say you were trying to cast lightning, dumbass?" I asked, tired of all this crap spewing from the little boy. "You should be smart enough to know that, but because you're sweating oceans from all the lies, you're screwing up your own alibi by your own stupid mouth.

"So yeah. You almost got me killed, and all you can say is that you were busy attacking Volt with a useless spell and the others were distracting you by telling you to get out. Yeah, right. I saw your face just before I slammed into the wall just to save your tiny butt. You looked like you were gonna piss in your pants, cause you never knew about the Indignation, contrary to your initial statement- So, any questions?"

There were none. Genis, dropping his head with hands clenched, immediately began to walk out at a rate fast even by my standards- If he had ran, I swear, he could have caught up to me if we had a race.

I followed, him, not bothering to try and catch up- Who cared. The world had no need of arrogant pansies like Genis Sage, so punishment like that was well-deserved.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Raine, while thinking Kendal's heavy-handed lecture might have been unnecessarily brutal, had to give it to him- Genis simply hadn't been able to accept he had caused the group unnecessary trouble by not listening to anybody but to himself.

"Genis," Lloyd called, jogging after his best friend past Kendal, "Wait…"

"Lloyd," Regal called, "Let Genis calm himself down."

"He'll get killed by the monsters-!" Lloyd cried, confused.

"That little prick's got enough sense to stay away-" Zelos said earnestly.

Unfortunately the next moment proved the contrary when Genis came barreling right back into the room. "M-monsters! Help me!" he cried as he tackled Raine, driving her to her knees, gasping for the recently escaped breath that had, well, escaped her as a result of her brother's botched flying tackle.

"Recent statement false."

They all knew where that came from.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Peeking out of the doorway, I spotted a bunch of beasts, just as Genis had said, beginning to creep up the staircase to our level.

Remembering the lightning orb that had shocked Zelos, I smacked the button that activated the lightning rod in front of me.

Now, to see if even electric-based monsters like those could withstand _this_.

They couldn't. Thankfully, there weren't any Lightning Birds, nor were Thunder Swords, so they all fell victim to one lightning shot after another. Five minutes later, with all monsters shocked to death as they didn't know better from marching forward to supposed prey, I headed back in to the main chamber.

"All clear," I announced.

Getting to the exit, we were greet by a waiting Orochi.

"It appears you've gotten the pact with Volt," Orochi said solemnly. "Congratulations, Sheena."

"Thank you."

Sad. Anyway, Orochi unfolded a scroll he was carrying. "Look at this map," he said. "The Renegade base is east of here, in the fjords of the northeast. Because you don't have the Rheairds, you'll have to go by sea, as the base is mainly underwater."

Raine turned green quite quickly, causing a snigger from me. "Does…" Raine began, "Does that mean we have to go underwater…?"

"No," The quick and nervous reply came, "We… we'll make arrangements concerning that."

With that, the ninja made a quick exit.

"Anybody fancy a ride?" I asked, an evil grin spreading across my face.

* * *

Genis: (groans) This is getting old...

Me: So what? Still fun.

Raine: (angry) ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACKATTACKATTACK-

Kendal: (AQUATICOWNAGE)

Raine: (now drowning in the pool of water) NUUUU!!!

Everyone: (cough)


	48. Profanity Technician

Kendal: I know you guys know this boring procedure from end to front, blah blah blah. Chapter 48 is up. Hooray.

Me: WHAT! IN THE SPIRIT OF ADVERTISING, THAT IS SO _BEEPING_ NOT THE WAY TO ATTRACT READERS!

Kendal: OH YES IT IS SINCE THEN PEOPLE WILL ASK "Why does this guy sound so bored?" And then on a whim they'll read this thing!

Everyone: (sweatdrop)

Kendal: I see I didn't make my point across.

Colette: (as sweet as always) Huh? What point?

Kendal: Not for you.

Colette: Okeey-dokey! (skips away)

Me: (cough) Anyway, I don't own.

* * *

Five hours of maneuvering through the fjords of the northeast, and we were at the base.

With Raine the old, frizzle-haired lady yet again. Muahaha, courtesy of me and my crazy antics on the open sea. Hey, the laws of physics, you can't argue with stuff like that. Besides, this was payback for making her give me insomnia.

After some near misses with the rocks that seemed stuck there for no reason, I finally maneuvered the EC right into the dock of the Tethe'Alla base. Hey, once you find it once, you can find it again- This was the site of my attempted and unsuccessful raid to snag a Rheaird.

A gigantic gate welcomed us, cold and unmoving. And by it? Two men. One familiar, one not so familiar and seemingly a lot more threatening. As in, a Renegade.

"Welcome to the Tethe'Alla base," Orochi announced.

"Isn't that a Renegade?" Lloyd asked, pointing a finger at the green-wearing soldier.

"No," Orochi replied, "This is a spy that we managed to infiltrate into the Renegades. This is how we keep tabs on Sylvarant."

"Cool!" Lloyd said in awe, "You guys even keep tabs on Sylvarant!"

I groaned at the obvious repetition, but it was something that even I hadn't known. And they didn't have managed to head over to the other world much, did they? From what I knew of the base, flying to Sylvarant was work. As in, having to go through ten thousand checks and verifications.

_Not that we'll have to drown in that drivel once we nab them, _I thought to myself, and walked in as the 'Renegade' opened the door via a palm pad.

The halls were deserted- At least for the entrance hall. I mean, who'd ever think somebody would try coming in from the sea? I had, obviously, since I couldn't just sprout wings and fly over here, and the attempt that gave me so much knowledge of the base was via a hijacked speedboat that was capsizing given that the convoy I took it from managed to drive me into a rock in its pursuit and smash open a leak.

My escape, having been driven out? Hiding under the dock for six straight hours, shivering, and falling victim to hypothermia. I still don't know how I managed to crawl back up from under the dock, hide until a Renegade came out to check, mug him, and then get back in the base, which I didn't escape from until two days later- Mainly by hitching a ride on a Rheaird after recovering from my brief stint outside.

To be exact, as a rider took off flying, I jumped at him, snagged a handhold, and wrestled him off- But in the process, a wing accidentally hit one of the many spires that surrounded the base. So, I dumped the guy off, sat in the seat, and tried to look presentable to anybody who cared to look up then. And then, I crashed some ten miles north of Flanoir.

And even worse than that, I landed face-first in a snowdrift. Talk about embarrassing, and the fact that I actually landed near somebody made it even more embarrassing. As in, near the governor of Flanoir who took one look at the disoriented me and fell over laughing.

He was never seen again. As in, he was dragged over to the Temple of Ice, somewhere south of Flanoir, and then buried under two feet of snow, soon to be ice.

That was before I ransacked the Elemental Laboratory for a wing pack- I had expected to grab one on the way into the base. However, given that Rheairds carry wing packs in compartments on them and that the Rheaird I 'accidentally' crashed went up in flames, so did the wing pack. The wing pack I ransacked from the lab? In my pocket, but otherwise useless.

Walking past pillars, I racked my brain for a memory of the layout. The entrance hall. The storage rooms. The west and east halls, the study rooms, the barracks. And then the Rheaird docks.

"Hey," Lloyd said suddenly, "Where's Zelos?"

"You are right," Presea spoke, looking around slowly.

"God, why'd that idiot run off?" I grumbled under my breath. "If it wasn't impossible, I'm gonna think he's gonna hit on some Renegade soldiers-"

**VWVWVWVWV**

That couldn't have been any farther from the truth, because then Zelos ran up behind them. With no wooed ladies in tow.

"Hello, my hunnies!" Zelos announced brightly. "Let's begin our adventures, shall we, my dears?"

Kendal groaned, and then slammed his forehead against the nearest wall as Sheena gagged, Raine started to turn red, and Genis sniggered. Presea, not realizing the obvious disgusting qualities of that statement, only stared at Kendal repeatedly slamming his head against the wall, Regal was too… Gentlemanly to do anything, and Lloyd was oblivious as always.

"Can we go now?" Kendal asked through clenched teeth as he finished his mind-clearing… _exercises. _

They did leave. Very quickly. The rather large dent on the wall and the fact that the rogue's teeth were crunching down hard enough to break a rock was a testament to the advisability of that.

They managed to get into the temporary and makeshift storage room with no incident, which had been constructed by the 'Renegades' that were in the base, just for this attempt at snagging the Rheairds.

"Okay," Orochi said as they all filed in the room, tensed from dodging the in-base patrols (Save Kendal who had simply climbed on the central generator and stayed there until the coast was clear, and then hopped in the doorway of the room). "The door of the hanger bay is sealed by an access code that only few in the base know. It's in three parts- Four know it, the commander included, but the other three only know certain fragments of it."

"So we have to knock those three guys out and then make them talk for the code!" Lloyd cried in excitement, no doubt imagining whacking them dead with his Saint Rapiers.

"Exactly," Orochi nodded. "I'll stay here to support you. Good luck!"

Lloyd turned to the group in a display of childish enthusiasm. "Okay, let's go and-"

Raine interrupted. "Lloyd," she said carefully, "You _do_ know we don't have a map and we have little to no idea where we, correct?"

That one question's significance rang through the room like the midnight bell that signaled the coming of the reaper.

So yes, that question stumped everybody. Save, unfortunately, given that it had been repeated many times already, one certain rogue.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Deciding to cut them some slack was… to say, not exactly an easy choice. For one thing, I always wanted to be in a group where they could figure things out for themselves. This group actually seemed to be one of those, but in this case I had to throw in the towel- This base had a mind boggling amount of death trap and the barracks had maybe a thousand soldiers- This wasn't a place where you could just walk around and slaughter every person in sight and then get a general feel to the layout of the place.

For another thing, I didn't like being a guide- I hated being one, where they have to check, double-check, triple-check, ect ect.

Why, just why, in the world do you have to be that person? I figured if you're sure once, you're perfectly sure if you check again. Maybe if it's all so suspicious, but otherwise it just takes a simple "sure" and you go.

People weren't like that these days, and other reasons above also gave me the reason to pitch in a helping hand. After all, nobody needed to have to deal with have to be chased with soldier after soldier in an almost-never-ending cat and mouse chase.

"I know this base," I volunteered, and immediately drew nine stares.

Despite quaking in my boots, I steeled myself. "Yes, in addition to everything I know about so many other places, I know the layout of the base. So, which is it, you get slaughtered by five hundred heavily armed men or you follow me and manage to get out of here alive?"

They all simultaneously said one form or another of choice two. So I did.

I walked out, the automatic doors sliding without a sound, and checked the room for patrols. The central room, the largest, was mostly bare unless you counted the giant generator in the center of the room. Which I had conveniently hopped over in our stealth outing into the room behind me.

I heard bored conversation, and realized the patrols were on the other side of the room. This meant that we were currently hidden from sight, but to be sure, that meant that rushing the doors that led to the west and easy hallways would get us seen as they could still see those passageways.

"Look," I hissed to the others, who had filed behind me, "The doors to our right and left are the west and east hallways respectively." Quietly, because the room at impressive acoustics and would therefore echo pretty much anything and everything.

"Since we need to find those three guys, we've got to make a run for any of the doors, but a patrol's on the other side of that thing in the middle of the room" No need to befuddle anybody with knowledge that wasn't necessary, now of all times "So we have to wait here and wait for them to move to another side of the… thing."

"Why can't we go now-" Lloyd said but I quickly slammed a hand to his mouth and listened.

The voices. "Hey, what was that?"

My heart stopped cold with that question. They had heard us. A repeat of the fiasco that had occurred five years ago seemed in hand, and I was getting prepared to sprint and slaughter all in my path and escape. Maybe alone.

The rest of the group, now ridged as boards, were holding their breath, too- I could feel it.

"Fine, I'll go check. Damn, just cuz I'm a runt doesn't mean you get to pick on me…"

I sighed in relief. One person. Easy.

Totally forgetting I was part of a group, I stepped out into the chamber, in caution, and quickly lined my back with the round edge of the generator, softly humming.

"Hook…" I muttered, as I stomped the floor, hard enough for the guy going around to notice, but not loud enough for the other honchos to hear.

"Wha…?"

"Line…" I murmured to myself again, as I waited for him to go around.

He saw the others in the doorway- I had forgotten about them, all being so stupid and standing there petrified. Ah well. Though it did piss me off, there was no way in the world that it made a difference. I grabbed the guy from behind, and gave him a knee to the balls that was only marked by a quiet thud and a sort of sigh from my victim.

Then, I whipped out a dagger, and jammed it in his throat.

"And sinker."

I dusted off my hands, wiped the blood off the dagger, and looked back at the others. No time to be angry.

"C'mon, get out of there," I hissed at them as the patrol started getting suspicious. "Jack?" they called. "Jack? You there? C'mon out already, we don't have time for this, you dumbass newbie. Lord Yuan's gonna be so pissed at us if we don't patrol this goddamn room till we freakin' drop…"

I clenched a fist to keep myself from launching myself around the generator at them. To me, Yuan, just the word, was taboo.

"Aw, guys, gimme a break," I called out in a passable imitation of Jack, "I been patrolling this place like a fuckin' guard dog, so lemme some slack and I'll come back with ciggies!"

I did that all on the fly, so I wasn't even sure it would have a half-baked chance to work. But, somehow, it did. "Fine," they yelled back, "but you owe us five packs!"

"How the hell am I gonna get them in this place?"

"You don't know?" The voice came again, this time sharply. "We told you yesterday, remember?"

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed, because my heart almost stopped. Again.

"Well gawd, you been givin' me all the dirty work to do, so how should I remember stuff like dat? I don't smoke, rememba?"

"Oh yeah," they replied back, grudgingly, "You don't. Well, it's in that storage room on your side of the generator, but it mighta been cleaned out past couple of months. What the hell, go get some for us."

They _did_ call him a newbie, so that meant the technically he was new, and so hadn't smoked, at least in their company. But whatever. They were off our backs now, but we had a dead man's body hid. Where?

As it turned out, Raine solved this when she jammed dear Jack under the generator into a crook I hadn't noticed. So, yeah, we were good, except Raine muttered "They have worse vocabularies than you" you me.

"What the hell you sayin' my words fucked up worse than the shit I'm sayin' now?"

That so offended her that she shut up for the next five minutes, fuming. She even refused to look at me.

"So, what now?" Zelos asked me in a low voice- Everyone had learned their lesson on stealth from the recent close shave- Shut up and you save your ass or don't and get you ass kicked. Metaphorically, get your ass kicked dead.

"Simple," I said. "We knock out the alarm in the room that gets everybody in the based riled up, then we take the guys out because then we only have to deal with those guys and only them."

"How do we get rid of the alarm?" That was Regal, who had seen it right by the group of bored Renegades around the corner.

"I'll blow it up."

I closed my eyes, and willed some mana out of myself, and sent it floating towards the alarm, a upraised surface with a switch and a caption that read "ALARM."

Riiiight.

I snapped my fingers. A barely audible bang, and then it was smoking.

The patrol heard. "What the hell was that-?"

The guy who said it didn't manage to get another word out before I shoulder-tackled him.

By the time he hit the ground, my blade was already flashing as I Wolf Fanged the guy. Going right into his side, I then cuffed him while he was opening his mouth to yell in pain, and then when he staggered backwards, I drop-kicked him right into a wall.

The end result? Me grinding him to near-death with a Dominating Blade and then smashing him to death with a Drop Dragon.

That took five seconds. By the time the patrol had managed to take out their weapons in the confusion, Lloyd's gang- As in, him being the leader, or at least the unofficial one- Had rushed out of the corner of the generator. With feet, blades, and flames flying, they took the hapless patrol by storm, breaking bones, chopping limbs, everything violent imaginable.

In a minute, they were all dead.

"What do we do now?" Sheena asked, when she was finished wiping the blood off her cards.

I only said "Pick a door, any door."

The picked the right one. We marched straight in.

* * *

THE DRAMA! THE SUSPENSE! AND...

Sheena: THE PROFANITY! GOD HELP US!

Me: (mauls)


	49. What's an adjective?

Only another chapter away from the fiftieth, so let's prepare the confetti and Silly String, shall we?

Kendal: Silly String? No problemo. (pulls out five hundred cans)

Other: WTF??

Kendal: I stole it.

Others/Everyone: NOBODY STEALS A FREAKIN' FIVE HUNDRED CANS OF SILLY STRING AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!

Kendal: Says who?

Police: (start yelling from behind a few doors) OPEN UP PUNKS, YOU GOIN' DOWNTOWN!

Kendal: (sweatdrop) Er… See ya! (quick exit)

Me: Right… So I don't know anything. Yep. Or own anything.

Police: (Blasts into room) WHERE'S THE SILLY STRING THIEF!

Everyone: WE DON'T KNOW!

* * *

After hiding the bodies of our recently-dead victims, we were greeted with (Unfortunately) another patrol.

Frozen in the doorway of the east hall , we immediately breathed a sigh of relief when we realized that the patrol was heading away from us. So, no alarm getting triggered. Yet.

As the patrol grumbled the latest complaints of their bored, soon-to-be-nothing existence, I hurriedly jammed my blade into the alarm. Hissing as circuitry and metal were sheared apart, I took it out, silent as a spider on its web, and snuck up to the patrol.

The stab to the jugular with a dagger. As the blood exploded onto the helmets of the others, with an irregular (But fast) _ratatattatata_, the other attacked, screaming and killing (The doors were soundproof, I had told them) yet again a hapless patrol.

For the next five minutes it was the same thing- Kill a patrol, but first bust the alarm, do it as loud as you want, and then hide the bodies somewhere. An empty storage room, obviously- Given that the base had dozens of them, and that the east hall actually had multiple accessible storage rooms, just behind a door.

And some had items of mass desire. In a few minutes, I'd ripped off a battlesuit, a few lemon gels that maybe dated back to when some of the rooms were in use, and, surprisingly, a few leaves of bellebane a rather rare herb that I hadn't seen for years.

Not that I needed it (As it was a sort of body-toughener when mixed as a tea), but it seemed that certain… _fragile _half-elves needed health doses.

So I dropped some in Raine's hand as soon as I passed her, and passed the rest of the loot to whoever needed it the most. The lemon gels, I kept.

Finally, I poked my head through a doorway…

And realized suddenly I was in a study.

I pulled my head back out, so fast that if you bothered to watch me you'd think that I was an illusion created by something weird you ate, and rushed to tell the others that somebody was in there. In this case, busy doing paperwork, and liking it (Disturbingly).

The studies didn't have alarms, so all we had to do was walk in and start killing people. Then, we held the head honcho hostage with a knife to his throat and get the part of the passcode he had out of him- Then gag him and simply stuff him in a storage room.

Or, if it got too violent, kill him and search for something on his body in hopes he had his part on paper.

That's exactly what we did- On realizing that I was serious about getting a part of the passcode, they roared in the room, scaring the living daylight out of half of the Renegades in there before we even started the punching, kicking, and slashing.

The screaming ones, the one who were peeing in their pants in fright, were easily knocked out, or other wise killed in a somewhat violent manner. I took care of them, as I loved to kill people quickly via slit throat or open jugular.

The others, they overwhelmed or otherwise overpowered the Renegades in the room. But not the commander, the guy with the weird crest on his head. Oh, no. In spite of his rather dim-witted escort, he fought. Calmly.

Because in the midst of this, he maintained and incredibly cool head and said, over the din of battle inside the room, "Thunder Blade."

I immediately on instinct dived out of the way, shoulder-tackling a Renegade crossing swords (And greaves) with Regal. As the convict pressed on with his newfound advantage, I heard a loud, dull _thud_ and looked around for the victim.

It turns out, it was dear Raine.

A sitting duck with all the healing work that forced her to stay still, she only stood there, stunned with a gigantic magic blade stuck in her side, and was easy prey as the magical sword blasted into the ground, shocking the half-elf and accidentally shocking a Renegade who happened to be there at the wrong time.

"Great," I mumbled under my breath, as I walked over and Damnation-ified the currently electrified Renegade (In the process changing the guy's status from electrified to dead for the count). Seeing me walk over to the wounded…

The commander, not content to see his recent victim be healed to good as new, rushed me in a wild attempt to take me out with his rather elongated double-edged staff.

I raised my sword at a 135 degree angle above my head, where it promptly caught on one of the blades with a loud _clang_.

Dancing away, the commander tried to stab me again, which I whacked away with a wide sweep that had my cleaver tip turned inwards at me when my grip "supposedly" slipped at the end- A cover to eliminate any openings after the sweep. I now had myself gripping my weapon of choice like a dagger-

The head honcho, however, did not know this, as he had never trained with a sword. He slashed again at my neck, which I promptly ducked. That left him open. Horribly, enough for me to squeeze a Wolf Fang in.

Growling with pain as he backed away (I had nailed him in the abdomen area, as in the stomach and such- If not for armor, it would have penetrated a vital organ and maybe gone straight through) , he quickly spun it in a wide arc over his head. Ducking that was well, I then headbutted his wound when he tried to tilt the spinning staff above him downwards in my direction, thereby threatening to gash me maybe dozens of times.

Gasping in pain again, the subordinate of Yuan tried to retreat, to no avail- I immediately sent in a Drop Dragon the pinned him into the wall (Which also happened to create a dent in the walls as well) and then gave the guy a Wolf Fang Pulse.

Amazingly, when he blasted through the wall, we didn't have to be confronted with a humungous amount of surprised soldiers- Instead, the commander slammed into another wall, and stopped, stunned. In a storage room.

Retreating to a safe distance, as the battle raged around me, I crossed my arms, and prayed that the others wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. _Frozen _crossfire, that is.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Lloyd, having finished a duel with a rather spirited Renegade with the brunette as the victor, turned to face his next opponent, when a sight from Kendal stopped him cold. Literally, given that had something very cold above him. As in, a gigantic "rose" made of ice.

He immediately dredged up memories of the last time this happened, and decided to stay away from the line of fire, instead helping Sheena, who was being double-teamed and was keeping her attackers at bay with seals.

"Blizzard… CANNON!"

A rain of icicles went thukthukthukas they gouged out flesh and then they struck into the wall, quivering like knives. In this case, bloody frozen knives.

In any case, Lloyd didn't watch- He was too busy cutting at the hand guards of one pesky anti-Desian that wouldn't let go of his sword. Finally losing his patience, which was relatively quickly, if you knew him, he went "Super Sonic THRUST!" and sent the guy right into Kendal's line of fire.

The same thing went for the summoner, who was more… _aware_ of her surroundings than the swordsman. Hey, she _was_ a ninja after all. With a Pyre Seal, the Renegade she was facing was blown back by a storm of cards and now also suffered the same treatment that particular Renegade's commander and comrade were going through.

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Hey," I mused as the spell's final remnant broke free and promptly carved a path through bodies, "The more the merrier, right?"

In a sick and twisted sense, yes.

The Renegades in the room were all dead, unless you counted the captain/colonel/lieutenant/what-this-hell-it-is of Yuan's. Walking through the devastated wall into the throughly trashed up storage room, the empty storage room to say the least, I grabbed the guy by the shoulders, and dragged him out.

"We start the interrogation now, I presume?" I asked, and was immediately replied with nods. At least from five of them.

The two black sheep were Sheena and Lloyd, who were shaking their head in bewilderment. "What's an interrogation?" Sheena asked.

"And how do you know these big words?" Lloyd pipped up.

"Yeah," Zelos injected, "How come you always pull the big words when you're the most wanted person in Tethe'Alla?"

"Because," I said, rolling my eyes, "I'm so freakin' _evil_, I'm so intricate."

They didn't get the point. Becuase I'd used a big word again. "What's an intricate?" Lloyd asked.

You could have heard a pin drop. Again.

"_AN_ INTRICATE, YOU IDIOT??"

Everyone immediately cowered or otherwise jumped up in fright.

"INTRICATE IS A GODDAMN _ADJECTIVE _YOU DUMBASS NITWIT! CAN YOU EVEN READ A DICTIONARY?"

"WHAT'S AN ADJECTIVE!"

"RAINE!"

"WHAT!"

"YOU'RE HIS TEACHER! SO, HOW THE _HELL DOES THIS GUY NOT KNOW WHAT A FREAKIN' ADJECTIVE IS_??"

"HE SLEEPS IN CLASS, THAT'S WHAT!"

At that moment, I significantly doubted if the doors were meant to soundproof a three-way screamfest. Which meant what just happened now.

**VWVWVWVWV **

After the chaos died down, the group turned back to their victim...

Who was staring at us. In, to say bluntly, in horror.

No hesitation, whatsoever. A quick kick to the midsection by Kendal, and a howl from the commander. "Spit out your part of the passcode," the rogue said clearly.

"N-never," the guy wheezed.

Another kick. "Do you want to make this simple, or painful?" Regal asked, knowing full well how painful Kendal could make the interrogation. And Regal just kicked the guy in the back, anyway, not Kendal.

"Do whatever you want," the guy sneered through a pained expression, "You'll never get it out of me."

"Oh really?" Kendal asked, rolling his eyes, before he kicked the guy in the chest.

When the commander slammed down, the brown-haired "kid" jumped on his arm and stomped the elbow, causing an audible pop and an obviously far more audible howl.

"More?" he asked. Only a stare of defiance.

The rogue then proceeded to bend his wrist until final, after gritted teeth, wincing, and howling, he told us.

It happened to be a slip of paper, which read THE POWER OF

And that was it. Kendal knocked the guy out with a rabbit punch to the back of the neck, gagged him, tied his wrists, and then dragged him over to an empty storage room.

And that was the routine for the next ten minutes. Knock out a patrol, stuff in room, repeat, and then they found yet another of Yuan's subordinates.

And then Kendal dropped the bombshell.

"You know," he told them after they had knocked the second guy out and taken his part (THE STAR IS), "We've got somewhere around twenty-five minutes left to get out before we get caught."

"WHAT??"

**VWVWVWVWV **

I rolled my eyes.

"It's only logical," I said. "The patrols change every hour, all of them in one big shift. We've spent thirty-five minutes already, so in other words, in twenty-five minutes, they'll see that the patrols are all missing and then they'll sound any alarm we haven't busted yet. So, now we run for the hills. Like, lickity-split."

That marked the end of any thought among the others that this was going to be easy. More likely now, it was going to be hard. Very. We were running against a clock, we had to go find one final commander who could be anywhere in the base, now that we had ransacked both studies- So now, we had to find the guy through a systematic sweep through all the rooms and areas at the base.

It was going to be a long day. But, to skip all that frantic searching that we underwent, we found the guy, beat the crap out of him, ect ect.

And that wasted ten minutes. No, fifteen, given that Raine and Regal took over the interrogation- None of that do-you-want-to-make-this-hard-on-yourself-and-suffer-through-a-crapload-of-pain-or-just-tell-and-make-it-simpler-and-significantly-less-painful.

Well, they got the answer right, more likely because he let it slip from his tongue. Because he was laughing so hard from a certain redhead tripping and falling flat on his face- And then getting up with a drowsy declaration that the Great Zelos was invincible.

Riiiight. But nobody cared. They were too busy laughing themselves, and so they didn't get the last part of the passcode (THE RADIANCE OF LIFE).

So when they calmed down, I kicked him in the back of the head and knocked him out, sweet and simple, to the general uproar of the others.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT NOW WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND THEN WE'LL GET CAUGHT AND-"

I snapped my fingers in in irritation, to make an explosion burst out with a huge _BANG_.

"I already got the part of the phrase down, dumbasses, while you were too busy laughing your heads off."

"What-!"

"Hell, the guy slipped it out when he was in the middle of a case of mass hysteria. We should do it again sometime, shouldn't we?"

And then a forced march through the base, through several block puzzles that seemed just for us- I was beginning to wonder if there was something weird going on here. Why were all these puzzles here, which obviously couldn't be solved with the brainpower of a normal grunt, when most Renegades were supposed to have clearance to ride the Rheairds?

"Well," I muttered under my breath, "Time for a face off."

Which would be delayed. Unfortunately.

* * *

Audience: YES YES YES! BIG BATTLE NEXT CHAPTER!

Everyone: (prays)

Me: Obviously.

Everyone: (faint)

Me: Well, only the stupid grunts are going to die or something...

Grunts: HOW DARE YOU TRAMPLE ON OUR RIGHTS!

Sheena: Do you guys even really exist...?

Grunts: (sweatdrop) BUT YOU DON'T EITHER!

Regal: We're copyrighted.

Grunts: BUT THAT KID IN BROWN ISN'T COPYRIGHTED!

Kendal: I'm not a kid. But I'm under control by the author, mister.

Grunts: WAAAAHHHH!!


	50. The psychotic bombing spree

Thanks to a recent reading binge on Dean Koontz…

Kendal: Another delay. God.

Me: DOES IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU I HAVE A LIFE??

Kendal: Maybe.

Me: WELL YOU DON'T CUZ YOU'RE JUST A COMPUTER-NOTED FIGURE OF MY IMAGINATION!

Kendal: SAY WHO, YOU??

Me: HELL YEAH, THE AUTHOR AND THE GUY WITH A LIFE!

Kendal: LIAR! NAME AT LEAST FIVE FRIENDS!

Me: FINE! ALLISON, ALANA, CAMERON, JAMES, AND THE OTHER JAMES-

Kendal: WTF?

Me: What?

Kendal: You seem to have an awful lot of friends named James- I GET IT! YOU'RE MAKING THIS UP!

Me: (mauls)

And yes. I have two friends named James. TWO! HOW IS THAT A #&ING AWFUL LOT??

* * *

The delay I was talking about happened to be the fact that ten minutes went by. We were at the door, I was jabbing the keywords in at a leisurely pace, completing the first part, when...

The alarm sounded off.

I fell over in shock when I heard that, as the others drew their weapons, fearful that they might be assaulted by wave after wave of unrelenting troops.

But no, that didn't happen- Not yet, at least. I jumped up, and yelled at the others "SHUT UP!"

They fell into silence instantly.

And then, Zelos started complaining. "Man," he whined, "We're going to die, anyway, so what's the use of keeping silent?"

"Quiet, nitwit," I said irritably. "Now, if we yell, then we'll alert all the Renegades we're up here, and then we'll _really_ be dead-"

"But the door to the hangar's going to be unlocked permanently if we try to get it open-!"

"We can reseal it once we're in, but we don't need to do that, because we're going to destroy the elevators that lead up here."

Obviously, as the floor we were on was high, high up. I was betting on the level being the topmost of the base- Fitting to launch a machine that could fly. And even travel between two certain dimensions.

I could already hear a multitude of voices downwards, which meant that they had gotten a warm trail. Of us. Which, saying meant they already might suspect that we were up here...

I could hear elevators rising. Punching in the final part of the phrase, the door hissed open, revealing just what we needed. The Rheairds, right there, and no guard. Who would think they needed them? They hadn't known about me as the "leak" that had gotten us this far, and so this wasn't working very well for them, was it?

"Go," I snapped, "I'm gonna to blow the elevators."

With a violent thing like that up next, they didn't need to be told twice. They dashed into the hangar, while I turned to the first lift.

Closing my eyes, I focused mana into the top of the supports for a very, very big bang.

A snap of my fingers.

**VWVWVWVWV **

Lloyd and co. had just approached the Rheairds and confronted Yuan, who had sprung out of nowhere with Botta in tow as well as saying a really cliched line, were rattled by an muffled _KABOOM_ from behind them.

Instantly know Kendal was at work, they faced Yuan. "How're you going to stop us?" Zelos snickered. "You speak really corny lines that aren't even original, and besides, you're outnumbered and somebody really dangerous is going to come in pretty soon." Meaning, obviously, the rogue.

As soon as he said that, like a testament to the wiseness of the Chosen's words, another muffled _KABOOM _was heard.

Ignoring that, Yuan snapped "I see you're impudence hasn't changed, but that won't matter- Prepare to die!"

Throwing off his cloak, Yuan then drew out a double-sided bladed staff that was embroidered with gold, as well as Botta drawing out a new, significantly more dangerous sword.

The others immediately drew out they weapons in one motion. One big fight was going to happen, but not to death- The pitched battle, no matter how crazy it would become, was never going to be finished. For the better.

But it would be fought to the end, if not to death. That helped.

**VWVWVWVWV **

There were three separate elevators to the top. Having devastated the first and second one, I was about to blow the last one, when the lift appeared. And along with that, a platform full of Renegades.

I managed to cook up an explosion in time before they took advantage of the helpless me, but still, I now had to deal with around six soldiers, all seething mad.

Taking one look at me and deciding I was perpetrator of all the devastation that had graced that base (Something I indignantly denied mentally), they screamed a battle cry and charged.

I didn't hesitate- One Drop Dragon later, and the first one was down, slammed onto the floor with all the force I could muster.

The others, realizing I wasn't the ordinary run-of-the-mill guy (Which should have been obvious the moment they saw me), immediately held back as they watched me with a scout's eye.

Well, not really, given I was already moving when I'd landed on the ground, sent into the air from the Drop Dragon. Mowing down two soldiers with a shoulder tackle, and a slashing pattern through the air in the shape of infinity, I blasted fifteen meters forward before realizing I had overstepped.

Digging my boots into the ground, I turned back to face one of them, a rather fat one, trying to tackle me in a body slam. Not a chance. A sidestep, and then a vicious Dominating Blade, right _on _mister fat man, therefore grinding a gigantic chunk of his skin off into a very bloody cloud.

While the guy yelled, his body flew up into the sky- A perfect setup for something I'd been toying around with the last few weeks.

"Meteor Rise!" I yelled, springing upward, my blade hacking upwards as well.

One, two, three slashes as I revolved like a top in mid-air, slicing upwards. And then...

I shifted my blade's grip so now it was being held like a dagger, pushed down as I reached the apex of my jump.

I fell, the fat person now pinned under my blade as he fell down, down, down. Like a meteor now.

Just before I hit the ground, I stabbed downwards with my arm and therefore got my cleaver to come dangerously close to me- However, now my victim was slammed to the ground with semi-lethal force- It didn't help that I had inadvertently created a rather explosion-like shockwave on my landing, therefore scattering everyone around me. Sure, that cost me a chunk of my mana as well as strength, but I needed a sort of test to see if it actually worked, didn't I?

Around me, they were scattered as a side effect of my explosive return to solid ground, but now I realized that I had just ripped open a hole in the ground that was going to open if I didn't get off sooner or later. Damn that explosive side effect.

Diving off the crater of metal, I looked back in time for the part of the platform to groan and then fall through, taking with them the stunned forms of two Renegades.

"Three down," I mused calmly, counting the fat man, dead, "Three to go."

**VWVWVWVWV **

As Lloyd parried, dodged, slashed, and thrusted his way through Yuan's guard, he suddenly heard yet another rumbling, the fourth one that he heard today.

_What's going on? _Lloyd wondered. There were only supposed to be three elevators, weren't there? Or was it that Kendal had gone into a fit and started blowing up everything in sight? That proposition wasn't exactly the best, but he couldn't count it out- As Zelos had once put it (Far out of Kendal's earshot, to be sure), "That guy is half psycho and the other half is something that nobody wants to know."

As Lloyd managed to pump a Sonic Thrust in through Yuan's guard, Regal, who was right in Yuan's current trajectory, started a violent kickfest. Triple Kick, Swallow Dance, and the Eagle Dive.

Yuan, however, was not content to be kicked around like the punching bag he had temporarily become. In a flash, he somehow managed to catch Regal's feet with the flat of his Swallow Blade in mid-air, _mid-air_, with no support from the ground, and then throw the convict against a wall. Landing, he spun on a polished toe, knocking back all the people surrounding him- Before hopping into he air with a cry of "Thunder Explosion!"

Which landed, lightning blasted out of nowhere to create a hemisphere of light that completely surrounded him- And gave a shocking and rather painful surprise to those around him.

Sent flying into the air, the ones occupied with Yuan took mid-air flips to righten themselves.

A timely Nurse from Raine helped them out with the counter-onslaughts from Yuan, who although outnumbered, was fighting quite well. Along with Botta who was being triple-teamed by the preoccupied Sheena, Presea, and Genis, they were fighting with incredible tenaciousness. It didn't help that they'd pulled some rather nasty spells on them already- Spark Waves, Stalactites, and a very hard-hitting Ground Dasher were keeping the group under heavy pressure. And besides, what if Kendal couldn't take out the elevators or stop anybody who might have been able to come up here?

**VWVWVWVWV **

They didn't need to worry.

I was already carving holes in the remaining three, enjoying that fact I was easily thrashing them with easy sidesteps, handstands, and other feats of aerobics that involved easy, almost fluid dodges that were stunning to my adversaries, who were complete slobber by my standards, but otherwise deadly when it came to countering.

Two were down with mortal wounds, but apparently it seemed that they were psyched up for the cause of the Renegades. So psyched up enough that they were trying to stand. And therefore making themselves easy targets. I happily executed them with all the time in the world on my hands as I chop-blocked, stomped, and axe-kicked them over and over again, till they irritated me enough to make me start chopping limbs. And, if you counted necks as limbs, those.

The final one, however, was smart enough to lie down for his chance to attack while I tortured, wounded, or otherwise brought closer to death the others.

As soon as I assumed that they were all dead, which obviously wasn't true, the third guy yelled an ear-splitting battle cry that wounded my ears- And also happened to hurt his larynx. It had to. How else could he have made a sound that loud? So then, as he hung over me, sword raised in midair, mouth open for a yell that never came-

Okay, I somehow went Ghost on sheer instinct. Blinking in shock, I nonetheless quickly damned him (Literally), dominated him, (Also literally) and then pulsed him (Okay, boringly enough, literally again). All when he was stuck in the hells of slo-mo. Well, being in slo-mo, at least for me. Because everything I did happened at a real speed for me, it happened perhaps at the speed of sound maybe when they felt it. I was faster than everything and anything else currently- Therefore, everything I did was faster than everything else, and so hurt a lot more.

Dead for the count. I stopped my body from vibrating and so pulled myself out of the "Ghost state." To say the least, doing such a thing was dangerous, as it had the potential to damage cells at the molecular level. All that vibration doesn't come at a cost, because afterwards you're filled with a tingly feeling all over your skin, which you constantly want to get rid off as it distracts you from the killing that you oft commit all for the sake of battle. It's that distracting- Everything vibrates, from your tongue, your insides, and even your privates. The first time I did it, I regurgitated about every little morsel that I had eaten the morning I came up with the idea.

So yes. That's why I gave myself three seconds and then nothing else. If I could do it for an hour, with no side effects, then I'd live my life that way, but no, I didn't have the mana to sustain it that long. It ate up huge chunks by the seconds, which meant that thirty seconds (Which meant about six seconds real time) took out a quarter of me. thirty seconds of living life like I liked it. Bah.

Confident that the others had confiscated some Rheairds and that there was one spare for me (They weren't that useless, were they?), I stepped through the door.

How wrong I was.

* * *

Yuan: MISTER AUTHOR! HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME LIKE THIS??

Botta: YEAH! AND WHY ME??

Me: Mister policeman, I am god.

Yuan: (whips out sword) SAYS WHO??

Me: (mauls) SILENCE, IMBECILE!

Botta: (grabs me from behind)TELL ME WHY, OR I'LL SLIT YOU THROAT!

Me: AUTHOR POWERS!

All: Fireworks...

* * *


	51. The blue bird man

It's the freakin' FIFTY-FIRST CHAPTER! W00TAGE! I wonder if we'll get to one hundred…

Kendal: NOOO!!

Others: NOOOOO!!

Me: WHAT!

Others: MORE ABUSE??

Me: WHAT!

Sheena: Stop repeating, say something original for once!

Me: Okay… WTF??

Sheena: Okay, same thing pretty much-

Me: WASN'T THIS ABOUT ORIGINALITY AND THE DEATH OF REPETITION??

Everybody: NOW IT IS!

Me: BUNSHIN NO JUTSU! (ten thousand clones of me start the mauling)

Disclaimer: Yes, I don't own. Obviously. How does a thirteen year old own anything like Tales of Symphonia? A copy, maybe, but rights to the game? Heck no. /rant

* * *

Yuan never heard the door open.

Mainly because of all the noise from battle and spells, also because the doors were pneumatic and therefore nothing more than a pretty faint hissing could be heard.

Well, if he had looked, he would have only seen a brown-haired kid dressed in a matching brown no-sleeves and long, rough brown trousers complete with boots. And a rather intimidating blade on his back that jutted over his right shoulder.

But no, Yuan didn't see him- He was busy grunting from the recoil of blocking a Beast from Lloyd. Not that anyone could block it and get away with it, obviously.

The next moment, however, something- Or somebody- Slammed into him in a shoulder tackle so hard and fast that the next thing you knew, Yuan was five feet up in the air. And that didn't stop there. From his point of view, someone had become a rather violent (And effective) battering ram- But who? The question was instantly dispersed when someone jumped up with him, getting behind him as his back faced the floor, and landed two vicious kicks on his sides by twisting his body to the left and the right with both feet- that drove the air right out of his mouth, even though he was breathing in at the moment.

As Yuan fell, he was slammed upwards by a flat-palmed shove that immediately turned into an axe kick, as his new assailant jumped higher than him and slammed his foot down. All Yuan saw was a brown foot, and then he crashed into the metal floor.

And even though every part of his brain was telling him so, Yuan couldn't believe that no weapons were used. Just a pair of worn-out boots. And seemingly-superhuman powered legs.

Lloyd knew who it was. He just didn't realize that a certain rogue's recent feat was only possible through rage. A huge amount of it, to be exact.

**VWVWVWVWV**

An explanation, you say?

When I first entered, I was nowhere near prepared for what I saw.

I saw nine figures. Seven, I knew. Well, eight, really. That odd one out was a spiky-haired guy with brown hair, just like mine, except his was in two spikes. Weird- Did it defy gravity or something?

But to say the least, there was one more figure, who happened to be rather conspicuous anyway. That's because of a head full of blue hair- Who has blue hair these days, anyway?

To the point- Something sparked in me when I saw him. A rush of images blasted by me head at a rapid-fire pace. Him punching me when I was only fourteen. Him spitting on the very best of me friends in somewhere that only me and he knew. A sneering figure batting away… something. A cleaver that seemed precious to me…

Okay, yes. My memories were incomplete. Not from time. From trauma. Or maybe something else- My memories were perfectly split among certain lines that I'd not discuss right now.

But it was enough to set of a chain reaction that smashed the dam to the other side, the side that always craved the violent way to do things. A torrent of anger blasted through my head, as my pupils sudden dilated. Okay, yes. To say the lest, I was throwing of fit.

Okay, nothing like the childish like tantrum I'd thrown back in the temple of lightning. This time, it wouldn't be anything like "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU IN A FREAKIN' SUPER BLOODY WAY!" or anything like that. I'd roar a battle cry, then settle back into a super-efficient routine of slashing, stabbing, ripping, ect- Well, just generally making things bloody. All for the sake of vengeance for the worst adolescence ever.

I then went silent and dug in my heels into the metal floor, feeling it protest. And then...

I was only a blur as I propelled myself with a force equal to the terminal velocity at three Gs. My legs hurt like hell the next moment, but now and then, I didn't give a damn to the world, only caring about whether I killed someone I happened to hate.

The shoulder tackle hit Yuan right on the soulder, sending him some five feet into the air. I dived low, shadowing him, and then blasted upwards, his back facing my front.

I swung my right leg first, slamming his side, and then my left, with another kick. If it hadn't been flesh that I was hitting, then something would have shattered or at the very least dislocated something. Because my effort to shadow Yuan had blasted me at a greater velocity than dear Yuan himself and now that he was stopped from the kicks I'd delivered, he started falling.

He might still be going forward, but I was going to overshoot him by at a mile. So, I slammed my gauntlet straight into the metal ground.

It went straight through it, pulled my elbow straight of my socket- And slowing my down to a dead stop. As Yuan came down, my right arm, miraculously still able to move despite the dislocation of my elbow, came up with my left and slammed Yuan back up.

It had the effect of propelling Yuan up again, but also now my elbow, with a loud _pop_, came back into the socket with a shudder. As he started right back up, I rolled to the side, and jumped up at him as he reached the apex of his rise, which to say the least was at least ten feet in the air.

And then, the axe kick. A smashing maneuver the caught him in the chest and sent him crashing into the ground, leaving a rather obvious dent there. As I came down, though...

I came down like a rocket. With, pun intended, a Blade Rocket.

Spinning like a crazed upside-down top, which I became at that very moment, I slammed down just to the right of Yuan's mangled chest and therefore he got the worst of the spinning, rapidly expanding and very sharp vortex that had formed. Ignoring the fact I'd done it in close proximity to the others, who managed to put up there defensive techniques just in time to stop themselves from being cut up with violence, I skipped back as a panicked Botta sprung a hasty Stone Blast on me.

The one with the gravity-defying hairdo was now on my hit list, as in the top of it. No mercy.

**VWVWVWVWV **

Lloyd, bringing down his shaking arms, could only watch as Botta, seeing a charging Kendal, pulled back his new and improved blade and jammed it into the ground- And therefore sent a torrent of rocks outward as if somebody had slugged a rather large boulder and had blown it all away. Hence the call of "Rock Smash!"

Botta, confident that he had at the very least stopped the newcomer, was stunned when the rocks clattered to the ground and-

Kendal just wasn't _there_.

The next moment, Botta, just as stunned as the others and contemplating that he might have wasted time on a damned phantom, or ghost, felt the impact of fists in a rapid-fire barrage that was far more real than any phantom/ghost. With both metal and flesh pummeling every inch of his torso at impossible speeds, he staggered back, and then tripped over a groaning Yuan's body.

Down, punch-drunk, and generally beaten, he looked up to see a crazed Kendal with a beast-like look in his eye above him, blade raised over his head.

He swung down, the blade barely going to an inch of Botta's chest, before a Drop Dragon erupted. At Kendal's crazed state and the dangerous proximity where the "dragon" was unleashed, it instantly drove both Botta and Yuan downwards, crushed by the force of a very brief five G's, before bursting upwards, as the protesting metal of the floor fought back.

Landing in a mind-jolting impact, a few feet from the now-obvious crater on the floor, Botta was jolted loose from covering Yuan's body as he stuck his head against the ground. that had the effect of clearing his head, but there was one problem- He was helpless. His sword was only a few feet away, but it seemed more like a mile with all the others around.

"Wolf... Fang..." Botta turned, just in time, to see a Kendal slam his cleaver just under Yuan.

Botta was a half-elf, so he obviously could sense the mana that radiated everywhere, the building, and other people, if he was close enough. This time, the mass of mana on the tip of the diamond-edged cleaver was more dangerous and obvious than anything else in the room, not even the gathering energies of a Spread by Genis that would nail Botta if he didn't move.

Rolling away, Botta shouted a warning, to no avail. Yuan was still stunned and everything, and besides, it would have been to late anyway.

"PULSE!"

An explosion right under Yuan, and the bluenette was airborn, hurt, bloodied, with a head awash with pain but clear, and definitely airborne.

**VWVWVWVWV **

Despite the previous rampage of violence I had rampaged through, I somehow hadn't lost my sense of sarcasm.

"Fly blue bird man," I twittered under my breath, "Fly."

And then I was airborne, once again.

A drop kick to Yuan's spine was really the last straw- The moment he flew onwards from impact, he roared in rage and started to execute a backflip to bring him back to normal orientation. Well, by then, he was upside-down, so you really must forgive the usage of the phrase, even when "bringing back to normal orientation" is supposed to be adjusting to one's normal idea or feel of gravity.

Not that he'd go through a landing unscathed. Adding to his gallery of wounds, I looped around my back my cleaver to launch an Aeroslicer via myself being upside down. It might have not done much...

But it DID cause the normally composed half-elf to curse violently and so lose his balance in mid-air. So he crashed on his knees, which resulted in him jumping up and hopping around in pain. Crazy person.

That was something to be laughed at. So I did. Like everyone else, I managed to heavy a few bellows of merriment that only served to enrage Yuan further- Screaming at his and holding both knees, he fell over a crate, landed on his head, and then promptly smashed it into pieces with his Swallow Blade.

We kept laughing, and did so- Until Botta, seizing his chance, snatched back his blade and promptly flat-whacked Genis with it. And even worse, on his behind.

That really, really exaggerated what was initially an unconventional and even more so undeclared truth to watch funniness take its hold. We kept laughing at the generaly craziness of the situation, leaving Botta bemused and embarrassed for the incredible ruckus he'd caused. Yuan, even more so, could only scream as his lieutenant was shamed to ridicule, and so could do nothing.

Laughter seemed so common around me, didn't it?

But I couldn't forget the reason I came here. I was first to stop laughing, rip out my weapon and start cutting up people.

Not that what I was doing was an easy job. The moment the duo of Botta and Yuan saw, they reverted to battle mode and started fighting anew, especially Botta who brushed aside the others with a mere flick of the wrist. And since this was with a blade, and he now did it with the sharp edge, it wasn't anything funny. More like, painful. In a complete circle that left a glittering aftermath, he sent everyone around him stumbling away, gasping in pain.

Yuan, not hesitating, blocked my charge and turned quickly to the side a quarter of a second later, in an attempt to send me right past him headfirst into a wall.

But before I can tell anyone what I did next, then I'd have to tell you how I fought.

I fought under no style at all. I could begin any duel swinging my cleaver like an enraged bull, make my blade's touch as light and quick as a raindrop striking someone's forehead, make my movements totally exaggerated to the point of being ostentatious. I could change how I swung at anytime, I could go unarmed to compensate for a very quick enemies in fistfights, and could dropkick pretty much anyone out of the blue, and others things. Casting spells didn't count, because often, even I had to admit was cheap.

But under crushing pressure, my mind would accelerate, literally. Like if I was in a Ghost status, the world slowed down.

Only difference was, so did I.

Just because my mind started absorbing information faster than the world could give it didn't mean that my body became fast. I could force it to, however, but that hurt afterwards. Like, really hurt.

But right now, with my emotions clouding my head like everything would turn red from all the rage I had, every time my edge met another or any time related to it, suddenly I'd pop into a realm of my own. As in, time would suddenly appear to slow down just for me and then I'd calculate at lightning speeds the move my opponent was planning, therefore totally negating the prospect of surprise for the SOB.

I had no control when and where I'd suddenly see the world slow down. I just knew that I wasn't going to care when it did, just as long as it let me kill someone. Yuan, preferably.

So suddenly I saw the blade as it was, but now I was analyzing the tensing of his muscles, weighing in the best options for Yuan to do at this point. I could see that he was now going to shift to the right, so then he would send me flying by- As I missed him, he'd continue the motion of whirling the he'd started when he sent me in the wrong direction, and as his Swallow Blade was double ended, he then slash open my back.

Like I'd let him. I dug in my heels, then threw back my blade as Yuan pirouetted and then stopped, to realized he'd missed. Badly. Before he could correct himself, I'd hacked open his back. Funny how I'd done the same thing he'd wanted to do to me, eh?

I also echoed him and spun around, but this time skipping back as he took a swipe at me. As I landed from my skip I sent forward another Aeroslicer, which fizzed out against Yuan's quick defensive Guardian. As his temporary shield faded and he looked up, I sent a quick Damnation. While the barrage served little, it sent Yuan backwards, cursing, as he got cut under the cheek.

A Dual Dominating Blade. His cape, now thoroughly shredded, waved weakly as he was sent flying. This was really getting old for Yuan, as he was being rendered helpless on his own turf. As Botta was pummeled, and Yuan himself was being showed up to...

He went berserk, just like I was. Even I was surprise when he suddenly shouldered tackled me, something that I thought only I knew how to do correctly on a battlefield. As I staggered (He'd done the very thing I'd have done and lowered the point of contact at the last second to hit my solar plexus), he dropped me in a Thunder Explosion and then rushed to rescue Botta, who was now being pummeled by a Sword Rain: Alpha from Lloyd.

**VWVWVWVWV **

As Lloyd was about to unleash a Raging Beast against Botta, who was now rapidly swiping away blood from his arm, he felt a sudden stinging pain in his arm.

Before he could cry out, Botta, seeing Yuan as he benefactor, quickly launched a Rock Smash that smacked Lloyd with rocks-

One who which broke the brunette's nose. As Lloyd staggered backwards, Sheena jumped in to cover the now-vulnerable Lloyd- However, Yuan spun around on a polished toe and knocked her back rather worse for wear. But at the very least, she'd gotten Lloyd of the danger zone- Zelos and Regal now shoved them backwards and began their own offensives.

But now, with both of them together, they were practically unstoppable, with Kendal temporarily disabled thanks to the solar plexus spike he'd taken. With Yuan keeping them away with Thunder Explosions and Botta blasting them with Stalagmites and all that stuff, all they could mostly do was let Genis do his thing and hope that he could. But Botta, already knowing how dangerous the little mage was, mostly targeted him- Stone smashed him, fireballs chased him, and once he almost fell victim to a Ground Dasher. Even worse, they hurt and they hit lots of people. So technically, the battle was being held up.

**VWVWVWVWV **

I was bent over, almost crying from the pain.

The triangular point of Yuan's shoulder had hit me right under the heart. In addition to jolting the natural rhythm of my heart, it blasted the breath out of me, thanks to an instinctive muscle clench activated when I was charged into.

On my knees, in pain, and clutching both hands on my stomach, I felt like an animal in a trap. While I was mostly safe as the battle had shifted away from me, I was angry that I hadn't realized what had happened sooner. Why?

_Nothing to do but rejoin the battle. What're you doing here, idiot? Sitting here like you're dead? I bet you're crying already, _I taunted myself. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. What, you survived a thousand years just to wind up kneeling like you're going to be killed? Dumbass, get up. Get up. GET UP!_

I got up.

When I straightened my legs, I felt like my chest burning- So I sat back down. Time to administer medical care then.

But then again, even raising my arm hurt. Biting a scarf tail in an attempt to stop myself from breaking a tooth or two, I felt mana burn through my veins. Ina soothing way. Thank god that mana didn't hurt- Otherwise, my situation would have been impossible.

A snap of my fingers, which hurt so much I fell backwards with a resounding thud.Thankfully, noises of battle blocked that nasty bit out.

"I'm going to bet that took the record for loudest thud ever," I said deliriously, as the spark did its work.

I got up, with no pain now, and cracked my knuckles as rage returned to keep yet another hold on me. I was ready to have a crack at those bastards again-

No. I'd just suffer the same fate that most of the others were now in, having to fend off both Yuan and also dodge Botta's spells, or vise versa. What to do now?

A sneak attack, I decided. I picked up my cleaver, slammed it into the ground, and crossed my arms.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Genis was having the most strenuous exercise of his life.

Namely, running around trying to survive an onslaught of spells that his foes had almost no trouble casting after only a few seconds. Indignation. Holy Lance. Stalagmite. Ground Dasher. Spark Wave. Even Genis, with his huge amount of practice, couldn't do them that fast.

But he was only a kid, and both of them, half-elves they were, had to be something like three hundred years old. At least. Genis was only twelve- Therefore, no contest.

But even with Botta's and Yuan's mana that they were sending out like mad, Genis could suddenly feel something in the air. A… source of heat seemed to be running from underneath him, charged with mana. Lots of it.

Lloyd, now with a healed nose, was about to relaunch his offensive when he suddenly felt his boots grow hot.

He was confused. What in the world was going on? A human body isn't enough to melt rubber, after all- But he stepped to the side nonetheless, and was immediately relieved to feel his boots become cool again.

Zelos, dancing with Yuan (Literally) was getting ready to give himself some room with a Super Sonic Thrust to be followed by a Hell Pyre, and then scooting back to avoid Botta's next bit of evilness, felt something under the polished shoes that he was wearing.

Heat. Yuan, feeling it as well but also sensing the mana paused along with Zelos.

Everybody stopped doing whatever they were doing- Running for their life, casting a spell, swinging a foot or weapon of some kind, ect. as they all felt the same thing. What was going on-

They simultaneously all got the same brainwave, and so turned to where a certain rogue was standing.

With arms crossed, blade at his side, and eyes closed, he seemed to be meditating. But the half-elves that were in the battle knew better. Much better. A moment later, they didn't know better because everybody knew it.

Cracks. Heated cracks in a rough circle around him, brimming with steam.

The next moment, however, was not one of meditation, but of a supposed apocalypse.

Roaring, magma blasted around Kendal, enveloping him in a maw of destruction so unstoppable that everyone thought he was dead.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Riiiiight.

When I crossed my arms, I wasn't meditating, obviously. I was calling magma, molten rock into a circle around me. One thing about, though, was the fact it was obviously noticeable. If you were standing on a vein of magma moving towards me, which they all somehow were.

When the magma blasted up, only the circle of cracks started blasting up- Therefore, I was so obviously not freakin' dead. It served more like a circle of protection.

The heat was, obviously, intense. Intense enough for me to start sweating. But no time to whine about the obvious discomfort. More like a time for action before I was fried to a crisp, dehydrated, or what-ever-involves-flames-and-causes-of-death-are-involved.

Mentally forcing the magma to rise, I then condensed it into a raging ball of molten rock- A much better force of destruction than a pathetic fireball or even the magically generated Eruption.

I raised my hand, backfirst, fully aware that everyone could now see I was alive and well.

"Magma…"

The sphere above me began to roar as it began to spin, spewing heat everywhere- But not magma. To be killed by your own spell when you do it- What does that tell you about why you should use a spell?

"METEOR!"

**VWVWVWVWV**

He stepped forward and threw his hand down.

Immediately, the "meteor" roared and flew up at an impossible speed, barely gracing the ceiling- And then, it came down, scorching a fiery scar through the air.

And then it hit. Since Botta and Yuan were almost side by side, they were blown away, slamming into walls, crates, or anything that presented a barrier. Things were broken. Walls were not, though obviously dented.

The impact did more than just blow people away- It created a five meter- deep scar almost ten meters across. And the currents where the magma had previously flowed through? Technically, they had never existed, since I had just gotten the metal to serrate apart and then come back together after it gave way to the liquid rock. So, nothing to crawl through.

But the fact was, the moment it Yuan stopped moving, the others pounced by sheer instinct. Hell Pyre. Endless Infliction. Serpent Seal Pinion. Thunder Blade. Heavy Tiger Blade. Photon. Triple Kick.

"READY!" I roared. Lloyd, and Genis gave me their own affirmatives.

Lloyd hopped back, as we started violence of a very sophisticated kind. "Meteor-" I began

"Lightning-" Genis continued.

"Tiger-" Lloyd roared while in the air, as lightning bolts slammed down-

We all, all yelled the last part out. "**_BLADE!!_**"

The moment Lloyd chopped Yuan's arm and hit the ground, an explosion equal to the impact of a Magma Meteor blasted up around the brunette, sending Yuan flying one more time. The blue bird man was now officially half bird.

A smoking crater surrounded Lloyd, though technically metal didn't smoke. But magma was magma, wasn't it?

* * *

Everyone: (wide-eyed) Fireworks...

Me: Yep. New compound special attack...

Kendal/Genis/Lloyd: (chanting) Meteor Lightning-

Me: HEY! THE CHAPTER'S OVER, GO HOME!

Kendal/Genis/Lloyd: (cries)


	52. Hunting the blue

My march to one hundred chapters continues!

Kendal: The torture keeps mounting up, doesn't it…

Me: QUIET, IMBECILE!

Kendal: EXCUSE ME, PAEDOPHILE??

Lloyd: What's an imbecile?

Zelos: What's a paedophile?

Me: AHHH!! AN IMBECILE!

Kendal: (At same time) AW CRAP! A PAEDOPHILE!

Lloyd: Did you just call me that?!

Zelos: Hey! What's with the name calling-

Genis: (looking through a dictionary) Oh crap.

All: What?

Genis: Those are perfect words to describe you two.

Lloyd: Me, an imbecile?

Zelos: Me, a paedophile?

Genis: Let's see… "Imbecile: A form of insult relating to the retardation of a person, less so than idiocy-"

Sheena: Oh, I get it! So, in other words, Lloyd's not an idiot, but he's still stupid!

Lloyd: (cries in a corner)

Genis: It even gets better.

Everyone: What now?

Genis: Here goes… "Paedophile: A word describing a person who often has sexual interests in underage people, mostly girls-"

Everyone: (gags)

Zelos: (runs to cry with Lloyd)

* * *

Botta now had no idea what the battle would turn to now.

The thunderous arrival of the rogue and the rally behind him- Now, Botta was the sole defender. Yuan, after all, was struggling to get up, but he was obviously downed with a thoroughly mangled arm. No contest.

All Botta could do was fight a retreat as he was backed inch by inch on the wall from the onslaught by a death-heralding rogue. And get mauled in the process.

To say the least, Genis had never liked Kendal. He'd been annoyed with him, he'd been ticked off by him, he'd been scared by him.

But now, he was _terrified_ of him.

A dead-ness seemed to have taken over the nucleus of his eyes, where usually there was a sort of vibrance of sorts. Either it was cold, either it was amusement, or either it was other stuff, like incredulity, embarrassment, the whole nine yards- In short, his eyes did more to express feeling than the rest of the face.

But now, in short, there was nothing. As in, nothing at all.

All that could be seen was the gold of his iris- That was it. No feeling there, not even a twitching in the face that suggested a person living in there. Just a sort of tightening that suggested a subtle kind of determination. Subtle, but dangerous.

Well, yeah, a tightening was an expression. But it had been there ever since the moment he had walked into the room, ever since he had taken one look at a certain bluenette. Except when calling out (That was the only time he spoken since then, anyway), where his face contorted into the perfect image of an enraged beast, complete with sharpened teeth, there was nothing there.

Sheena, wondering what sort of debt that she owned Kendal ever since the day he _accidentally _dropped into Mizuho, sent the village into an uproar, and then had given the ninjas there a run for their money, was now thinking she shouldn't bother. He had now turned into an organic machine of mass violence that didn't need repayment- More likely, it needed avoiding.

As the animalistic side of Kendal showed itself, thanks to the guttural growls and roars through clenched teeth and brutal tactics, from kicking the knee to drop someone to one and then elbowing the face with a loud _crack_, to headbutting someone in the stomach and then sink a dagger into the abdomen, and a whole arsenal of that stuff, all brutal and totally going against the written laws of combat.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I must admit that was the case, thank you very much, but what else could I do? "I," as in my normal, sarcastic personality didn't exist in there at all. Under a blanket of enragement, there was nothing else besides an efficiency mentality. Total efficiency- Therefore, that meant inflicting every bit of pain possible until someone- Myself or an opponent, dropped.

Usually, dead.

But I had at least five aces in the hole, as in reserve, while Botta could do nothing but defend himself as every chance at renewing his offensive was snatched from right under his nose.

But hope for his side was not dead. Literally, and metaphorically. Far from it.

**VWVWVWVWV**

What kind of person didn't attempt to go into battle without a gel of some kind?

An idiot, that's what. And Yuan was definitely no idiot.

Gels had been around since years that nobody living could remember. As in, nobody, not even Yuan, Mithos, or Kratos. Made from spices and (Obviously) fruit, they were then enchanted, wrapped in wax paper and then sent to stores.

The Renegades, being oh-so beneficial to Tethe'Alla from the killings of all seven Chosens of Sylvarant before Colette, could buy direct from places were gels were manufactured- As in, vending machines scattered throughout the base. But occasionally, a bored and broke Renegade might break into one and then hoard his spoils into one of the many empty storage rooms everywhere in the base.

Yuan, however, as leader, got a bunch for himself to keep, as so did Botta. Although he hadn't bothered to take much along, the fact was that both Botta and himself had taken along gels. Yuan, as someone who was no longer (Currently) posing a threat even if he _was _on the top of Kendal's ever so short top priority (As in, top-priority-for-instant-death-if-possible) list, was now ignored in the rapt attention on the ongoing duel with Botta.

Ripping open the wax cover, and wincing slightly at the _shhkkkk _of paper torn apart, he then applied a lemon gel on his arm. Hissing as the magic did its work, his appendage was now battle-worthy, if not rather battered.

Ripping open a second one (Now easier as he could use two arms) he then swallowed it, ignoring the stinging sourness. As health rushed back to him in open arms, he stood, picked his Swallow Blade up, and charged.

Silently, obviously. Nothing to ruin a stealth attack, his best chance of getting through this battle alive, it seemed, like a battle cry.

**VWVWVWVWV**

To be angry is a good thing. Or maybe not. A mixed blessing, it seems.

One moment, I was giving Botta a kick to the shin- The next, I had a newfound gash in my shoulder, though deadened by the leather (Now mangled) guard there- Not that it would help again, since it was now sliced in half.

An instinctive slam of my cleaver into the ground. Hoisting myself up in a flash, I swung myself around-

My foot met metal, as one of the advantages of having a two-sided sword revealed itself- You could attack _and _block in the same motion. Which was a very nice, though limited sort of thing.

Pushing against me, she sent me flying around- But there was a catch. In doing so, with me so close to Botta, I was now sending a sixty-mile an hour heelkick outwards, express to a certain spike-haired half-elf's jaw.

But facing a new target gives your old one a reprieve, and with reprieves they lose the most valuable status for an attacker- Their off-balance-ness.

Okay, that was awkward grammar. But long story short, Botta blocked it- And promptly swung me in the opposite direction.

But this time, there was no kicking- At least, swinging kicking. Oh, no. This time, at the right moment, I let out an ear-splitting roar more beast than human or even closely related to that, and let my hand go.

I was now a rocket. Yuan managed to stop me in time at the cost of slamming into a crate- And promptly shattering it.

Shoving me back with a just-as-earsplitting roar, He sent me flying far. Like, to the other side of the room. Snagging my cleaver on the way over, I slammed on the wall, facing front with my daggers in the wall.

A quick assessment, then. Botta was now applying a lemon gel on himself, while thankfully the others woke up and started their assault yet again.

But Yuan… he wasn't holding back. He'd been forced to fight hard the first part of the battle, but then came along me and now he was going to the extremes to win. At, unfortunately, any cost.

An explosive clang as Lloyd stumbled back from an impact so powerful that a yelp escaped from him as he let go of a Saint Rapier, as it was impossible to hold it.

Raine, started a spell to heal him, was suddenly slammed into a wall where she collapsed, whimpering as a trickle of blood matted her silvery hair. When her brother, in a fit, foolishly attempted to whack Yuan over the head with his pitiful kendama, he was easily lifted off his feet- Thankfully, this time he didn't join his sister at the base of the wall. But, it obviously still hurt.

A _whoosh_ of breath as Zelos, thinking he was invincible, joined Raine on the wall. Now Regal, jumping at his lucky chance, thwacked Yuan with a solid kick that would have at least broken three vertebrae- At_ least _three vertebrae, and therefore the spinal cord, and therefore would cause instant paralysis- did little except make the convict a target.

If that sounded ominous, then bingo- It was supposed to. Immediately, turned around on a polished toe, Yuan repeated a spinning maneuver designed to damage large numbers- But here, it made no difference. Regal staggered, as a wound to his chest blossomed.

"My cue," I muttered, as anger flared once more- And then I was nothing more than a blur.

**VWVWVWVWV**

One moment a victor, defender the next- Yuan was getting tired of this battle rather quickly, and it was no wonder why.

As diamond crashed against diamond, hundreds of minute adjustments on both sides, all for the sake of victory in this duel, went on.

A shift in stances here for the less athletically inclined Yuan, while a backstab that short the loop of a backflip here for Kendal- Some actions, subtle, while some were drawn out and downright breathtaking. And… the sparks.

_Everybody _saw the sparks. And everybody heard the explosions of sound that echoed through the hangar bay. Both of us, wounded, scratched, nicked, cut, and hundreds of other things (Yuan somewhat more than Kendal), were fighting a battle meant for fighting to the death.

Botta, wanting to help his commander, was forced to keep back jabbing away at anyone who came close to interfering with the duel. Well, in a way, yes. Because the spares on both sides wanted to help their representative in the arena that was here, they were fighting to get in, but so locking themselves in stalemates.

So in other words, just a rogue and a commander. What a weird matchup.

**VWVWVWVWV**

This wasn't turning out to be what I hoped for.

No, not the fact I wasn't in a cakewalk, or anything like that.

It was just that I couldn't find any _fear_.

The reason for me looking for that was this- I wanted to send Yuan a warning. At the very least, since I planned to kill him.

Evilness, I know, but whatever. The thing was, Yuan had humiliated me hundreds of times from the recollections that I possessed. Well, he might have- The last time I counted, it was thirty-seven times from what I could see.

But anyway, I wanted him to know that someone from his past was out for his blood. His blood, and only his blood- Botta was of no concern, unless he annoyed me to the end of my currently very short fuse.

I, the master of reading someone's eyes, could see nothing but solid determination there. Nothing else. I wanted to yell at him "I'm Kendal Seychell, dammit, don't you see!? I've come right back to rip out your heart for everything! EVERYTHING!"

But that wouldn't work. It would totally blow my cover and send a domino effect loose- One thing about who I really was here, another thing about my connections to who Yggdrasil really was there, and then the dreaded question-

_What _are you?

I, technically speaking, wasn't sure if the average joe would accept the fact that they've befriended a bioengineered person. Lloyd, always the altruistic, might accept me- But thinking about it, it wasn't simply _natural_. So did altruism count towards ones whose lives came about artificially? And that their lives are lived for war? Bloody, bloody war?

But never mind now. As a thwack to the head was sending Yuan stumbling, I filched a key from his belt. As soon as I dangled it in front of his face…

An explosive roar as he realized what happened, and he jumped forward in a Thunder Explosion.

I roared right back at him, and sent a Meteor Rise as well. Both of us, equal- Blown back, me, from the thunder and Yuan from the impact, we rammed back into each other again. This time, however, I had sneaked in a Wolf Fang Pulse into the mix- When we both blasted back yet again, boom, obviously not.

When both of you run into each other and get blasted back with the other guy having a mangled chest, hell no you are not equal.

A cheer flew up from the crowd on my side- A sulk out of the corner of the eye from Botta. But I had no care for them, only someone in front of me.

I smashed down an upturned edge of the Swallow Blade, grinding away at the diamond with diamond. The thing was, This wasn't to wreck the weapon, because in a battle the last word in endurance is a diamond-edged blade. This was more to shake Yuan's control so much he simply couldn't grip it.

It… worked. Sort of. His hands shaking like a piece of rock held down by rubber in an earthquake, he drew it back, but still held it.

A compromise, and time slowed down…

_Poke him in the eye, and the give his chest a heel spike. Then, flick a knife up and get the blade far far away. _

I complied with the instant strategy and immediately jabbed a finger in Yuan's left eye. A second later, a howling, red-eyed Yuan stumbled back, swing his sword like a madman- No chest spike then.

_Fine. Smash him from the left via cleaver, like, really, really hard, and when he stumbles, kick him in the kidneys with your right foot. _

Sparks blasted out like they had taken lives of their own as Yuan stumbled- All according to plan. Except for the fact that I had smashed it too hard, and therefore I sent him about fifteen degrees farther than my original prediction. But who cared, I didn't always have to stomp people in the side. Instead, a slashed out with a shin, in a perfect arc to my right-

Somehow, his blade, moving purposely or not, got in the way, leaving me with a bloody stump as a foot if I didn't pull it out.

Easy. Instead of bringing it back, I morphed it into a spiraling heel kick from my left foot by first slamming down with my right into the floor, and then using it as a springboard to spiral my body through the air and-

By body, contorting into a semi spiral as I went as my arms, left behind, pulled to my right side, my heel connected with Yuan's bicep.

A howl of pain (The entire bicep muscle was more like an entire pressure point) and Yuan lost control of his right arm. He might have not dropped the Swallow Blade (He snagged it just as it was about to fall with his left arm) but now he was fighting one-armed. I, for that matter, was sent spinning backwards as I cartwheeled myself into standing position.

And yes, he now had his back against the wall. One more time.

A thud as Botta ended up on the same wall, and with a nod they started going crazy.

Well, no. That wouldn't have been a good description- More like… beastly?

Yeah, that would work perfectly. Bunching both of themselves together…

They started roaring and charging down random things… With people always in their paths. It was like they were a tempest that had no end date- They always came smashing through barriers, as in crates, machines, whatever, just to get to people.

They only hit the people who tried making a stand. As in, everyone's favorite (Not) Chosen. And Lloyd, who couldn't tell when to back out and when to come in (Well, then again, he _always_ came in) and the somehow-gentlemanly Regal. Always Regal.

At least Raine had Nurse….

But then again, I made a stand. And… I somehow managed to stop them. For five seconds. I was crazy, to say the least, most of all now- And crazy people do crazy things, do they not?

The moment I stood in their path and locked blades with both of them, I was being thrown around like a punching bag, except this punching bag was not content to be punched without a fight. But this was a losing battle, and I knew it, but I wouldn't- More like I couldn't- Change what I was doing.

I started smashing my blade around like a sledgehammer, a really sharp one- And to be sure, it would have been lethal had one been crazy enough to stand in my way. But these guys weren't just crazy, they were bulky- And when bulky men meet bulky… people, what do we get? (I'm hoping you know how I'm referring to myself by)

A big clash of sparks, vibration, noise, ect. But like I said above, I should have never bothered- One swipe, I'm open, the other guy lands a big swipe on me. Again and again- Until I was covered in gashes.

A torrent of frustration was building, but the semi-coherent part of my brain stopped me from crossing the line between an angry battle rage and a useless brush with death. Jumping back, I slammed into the opposite wall, and then shoved off, my blade trailing behind me as a tool to latch onto it.

Soaring high, I landed on a walkway above the base level of the hangar bay, hitting the ground rolling- And then a turn to face the battle field I had just abandoned for the moment and I crossed my arms…

**VWVWVWVWV**

At any other day, Zelos might have mocked Kendal for doing the one thing the (Well, maybe…) bravest person in the group had absolutely no brain space to even consider- A withdrawal.

Not that he was _that_ stupid to think that Kendal was crazy enough to never withdraw. Retreat at this time seemed pretty convincing, especially…

Since Yuan had ruined his beautiful _face_!

Well, it was something of an accident, really- A piece of metal, ripped up from the floor in Yuan's path while he was in a slashing frenzy, had buzzed up and hacked a gash over his cheekbone. His cheekbones happened to be what most people admired at the parties, and Yuan had just wrecked that-!

So instead of going "YOU WRECKED MY FACE!" in a pitiful manner, the sent a Double Demon Fang in their paths.

The duo fist struck Yuan, and then Botta. Falling over and crashing on the ground with heavy thuds, the two stood up, groggy more from the fall than from the Demon Fangs, which meant…

Cannon fodder for Genis, who somehow managed to cast a Fireball spell in a second. Okay, yeah, pathetic- But it _was _in a second, right? And while this served little, it kept them down, and still, as something started rising from the floor…

**VWVWVWVWV**

Like a ghost, to say the least. The water used for a certain future spell rose up silently, which meant the victims therefore had no idea that they were going to be crushed and half-drowned- Until they bothered to notice why a flicker or two of light happen to hit the corner of their eye and then they look…

And then _kerkasploosh_.

My allies noticed. My enemies did not. Well, obviously, to defend means to be aware totally of your surroundings- but at least Genis was smart enough to send a frontal attack in the form of an Aqua Laser.

Diving to the side, they did not realized just how close they were to the rather large, slightly rippling spheres of water. Another inch by both of them to the right and left respectively and then they could have realized something was wrong- Namely, water simply did _not_ get on you unless someone had a squirt gun or if there was a floating mass of water extremely close by. In this case, the latter.

And then…

A yell from above.

"AQUATIC-"

**VWVWVWVWV**

"IMPLOSION!"

As discussed above, _kerkasploosh_.

Well, not for the entire spell, really. In actuality, that was just the first part. Which meant that between fifty to a hundred gallons of pure water (Per mass, in this case two of them) first slammed together at a determined place of meeting.

This meant that water immediately swept Botta and Yuan from the places where they had stood only a few seconds ago and then crashed them both together with an ear-splitting crunch of bone and flesh. Together. Which in all cases isn't a very nice sound.

A few seconds of merciless grinding by the water, which seemed to take a life of it's own- And then it drew back.

But only for a second. Which was enough for the two streams to come back fifty yards…

And slam into their victims at a hundred miles an hour. The massive explosion, by far larger than anything that I had casted before, sent the air roiling in visible shockwaves as blurred air and water smashed apart into mist blasted out everywhere.

It was incredible, both visually and enharmonically. As a cyclone replaced the center of low pressure that had arrived along with the advent of the explosion of water, everyone was showered with at least the rough equivalent of an inch of rain. Even me, up here.

But I took no notice. What _did_ grab my notice…

* * *

Yuan: ARGH! STOP THIS NONSENSE **NOW**!!111!!1!!1!!

Everyone except me/Kendal: (cowers)

Me: Stop complaining- It ends next chapter, mister man-in-blue.

Botta: WE ARE NOT COMPLAINING! WE ARE ORDERING!

Kendal: Remember you guys ain't got about fifty thousand people under you command here?

Yuan/Botta: YOU TWERP! YOU WILL DIE NOW, IN A HYPER-SUPER-INSANELY-ULTIMATE BLOOD APOCALYPTIC DEATH OF D00M!

Me/Kendal: ...That was long... (mauls)


	53. Separation

The last time I wrote a chapter, it was in late March

The last time I wrote a chapter, it was in late March…

Kendal: Which means technically that we didn't suffer too much pain as he played us around in our heads…

Lloyd: While he was beating up level nine's on Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Yuan: And yes, he imagined us getting beaten up by various people- Thank god we could beat others up as well.

Me: YOU THERE! YOU'RE GONNA GET THRASHED TO HELL, NOW GET TO WHERE YOU BELONG!

Yuan: (sulks)

Kendal: Well, what can I say. Screamingedge owns nothing even related to Namco.

Me: AND I JUST BEAT YOU UP MEANTALLY WITH TOON LINK!!11!!1!!11!!11!

Kendal: (emotional breakdown)

**VWVWVWVWV**

_There was something strange going on. _

_First of all, there was a strange throbbing in my forehead, a sort of burning. _

_Second, I was thinking in a weird sort of way. As I wondered why my forehead seemed so hot, so it must be a fever of sorts- _

_And then a voice suddenly said snidely "Burn, shmurn, more likely because a certain someone sank a great big sword in your head that happened to be charged with fire magic." _

_I blinked, suddenly wondering just how in the world I'd known that. But no, I didn't blink. At the point in time, I didn't even know just what and where I was. _

"_Who said that?" And even more disturbingly, why had it sounded so much like __**me**__? _

_No answer, as my voice echoed through the lonely halls that seemed- _

_Everywhere? _

_Then I remembered- I was dead. _

_Because that voice was right- In other words, I'd been killed or at least knocked by that flash of red as it arced above my line sight…_

_There was no doubt about just what it was. The Flamberge, on the finest swords in the world, had just been jammed in my head. _

_I shook myself, noting that even though as I looked down, and saw how I looked before I'd been stuck here, I was feeling… disembodied. Unconnected._

_Then I figured it out. This wasn't any mystical place I'd been teleported to. More likely, well, __**far **__more likely, it was the inner recesses of my mind. _

_I looked around. Technically, there was nothing I could feel, and nothing to see- Only blackness, with faint bursts of bluish and red light here and there- _

_**Is this what it feels like to be inside your own mind, totally split from the world you're so adapted to? **_

_As I pondered over that thought I took a step, wondering, for a second, whether I'd stepped into a bottomless abyss. _

_Nope. nothing, just a pseudo-solid ground that simply did no justice to the hard dirt on which I often walked on. _

_But, given the present situation, would I ever walk on it again? From the present, it looked to be a perfectly split chance. And from what that meant, it meant very bad things. I'd drift off into the void where only the dead resided- _

_Then I found the source of the voice. A shimmering in from of me, which then began to take shape- I stepped back, but in the process I looked down at my knuckles- And that's where I realized that my hands were wrapped in worn bandages, hard yet flexible. _

_What they were there for, I had no clue. But what I wasn't to know at that moment the mirage in front of me was now solidifying into something I actually had no intention of seeing at all. Well, rather, I had no intention of seeing __**myself**__. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

The mist cleared.

And, well, definitely not what I'd expected.

Because, unless my eyes were deceiving me, (Which had a one in twenty million) Botta and Yuan were standing, bruised, alright, wet (Sopping wet, which made it better a bit,) but otherwise unharmed.

And all made evident by the final traces of a shimmering green barrier around them, that only a person with my eyes or an angel's could make out through the rainbow-making mist.

Of course. These guys weren't the leaders of the Renegades for nothing- These guys were veterans. And when you're a veteran and you're about to be pummeled to pieces, there's one thing on your to-do list.

What else but give yourself a shield, but not just any shield a green, shimmering shield of energy that took everything for you? Now, that's a shield, only marred by the fact it took one hell of a chunk out of your reserves. It took a large chunk from even mine, so obviously it should take one hell of a chunk from Yuan and Botta's- Should, that is. But that's the catch. They had each done their own part, splitting the cost of energy between the two of them, in order to continue fighting effectively.

So that explained why they weren't huffing and puffing, nor shaking like I often did. And what I did were minor symptoms. Oh no, perhaps four thousand years of experience outclassed one thousand years. Um, no duh. What am I talking about? How about the fact that quite simply, they'd limited their output to exactly what was needed in order to take the brunt of the crushing wall of water that was an Aquatic Implosion.

So there you have it, one way to survive in the world. With another person, that is.

Though you might have noticed, the last thing I needed for that certain pair (Well, one of them more than the other, and I'm sure whoever reading this is smart enough to know just who that guy happens to be) to survive. More likely, a better choice (In my opinion) was to them/him be dead. Very, very much dead, six feet under. If he wasn't going six feet under the ground, then he was going six feet under underneath the brunt of all my attacks.

So without a sound, although roars were splitting my mind inside me, I jumped on the wall, allowing the air to ring with _chakchakchak_s of daggers going into metal walls as I scaled the stainless, now thoroughly wet steel.

The mist, beginning to settle, was still screwing around with everyone's sight. So, Yuan didn't see me scrabbling along the walls as I held my cleaver precariously in my mouth by the hilt- I knew for sure that I'd need it on short notice.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Now, Yuan had good sight, being an angel and all (Amazing that after four thousand years that he hadn't lost his sight, but whatev) but the thing is, a rainbow was screwing with his vision quite heavily, in addition to the mist at the moment when he would have seen Kendal along the wall. Easy picking from thereon if he had seen, but a shift of the mist and the art of optics took effect with a rainbow.

So he turned to others, and found, to his immense luck, that the mist in front of him was now completely eliminated. So he could see everyone in their full, sopping wet detail.

Hey, isn't that what happens when you get a huge explosion of water with a blast radius of thirty meters?

So as Yuan shook the water out of his hair, he heard something. A constant _chakchakchak _coming from his right side… and moving behind him.

Normally, he wouldn't have given that sound a damn- This was his base, and therefore he knew pretty much all aspects of it, including what sounds came from walls. In this case, he'd heard that same sound over and over again as trash transporters wound their cargo through the walls, slamming into the walls whenever their solid cargo hit with too much inertia. Man, the conveyor were freakin' _fast_.

Or, it could be the sound of solid, little things being dropped from the trash drops as they smacked against the walls. While the architects wouldn't have _dared_ to try building one past his office, in fear that they'd tick him off and so have dug their own graves.

But why in the world were the sounds coming in a _horizontal _way…?

So, he slowly turned around.

And at that moment…

**VWVWVWVWV**

I blasted off the wall.

As the wind screamed in my ears, a startled Yuan turned around, only to observe that a very, very nasty looking guy in brown was flying at him, a dagger in both hands and a muffled yell coming from him- Muffled because of a huge blade in his mouth he had unceremoniously clamped down with his teeth.

I raised my left hand and hurled the dagger clenched in it. Fire one.

An easy block by Yuan, who'd recovered from his surprise easily. But it should be noted I threw the dagger in my _right _hand a half-second after fire one. The thing was, I'd faked throwing them both- And I'd actually made it as if I _had_ thrown the one in my right, my metal-clad fingers barely managing to catch it before I threw it for real.

While Yuan was bringing his Swallow Blade up to block the supposed combined trajectories of my daggers, I opened my mouth. This had more dire implications than you'd think, since there was a certain _something _clenched between my teeth. A long, shiny five-foot and 10 inch something, that is.

So while Yuan had his vision blocked for a moment by his weapon, I was priming my own. The obvious? How about he was going to die unless he looked up.

He did. Somehow.

**VWVWVWVWV**

That somehow was a fluke. A sheen of water, that had accumulated on a crate- One of the endless stacked in the base- It acted like a mirror that constantly shimmered with every twitch of Yuan's neck, marring an otherwise good quality life-saving image.

And even better, it reflected just at the angle Kendal was coming in.

When Yuan had raised his bulky, certainly sight obscuring weapon to block a thrown knife coming straight at him, a glint of water to his far right caught his attention. A _brown _glint of water.

Water usually was never dirty in Yuan's base, and certainly shades of brown caused by dirt in water simply weren't that solid. So, therefore, yet another weird thing worth examining. If he hadn't examined it, then he would have blocked a second dagger that he saw coming at him with a small change in the way he held his weapon- But in the process, he'd get a broadsword jammed into his stomach immediately afterwards that he never even saw coming, so well chosen was Kendal's launch position.

And what a weird thing it was. Yuan was so shocked he hardly noticed it when a dagger went _plink _against his blade, nor did he notice the fact that another dagger penetrated his stomach.

It showed a young boy, dressed in brown with a metal, decorated gauntlet on his right forearm. But the shocker wasn't the fact he had startlingly familiar gold eyes, nor was the fact that his teeth were twisted into a snarl that could have scared the wits out of a chimera. A familiar one.

It was the fact that even looking at him you could feel sheer hatred coming from him, if only looking at an image. A real time image. Therefore, as a movement in the image caught his eye…

Well, it was certainly a big movement. A blade was lifted above his head. And what was next, anyone, certainly Yuan of all people, could guess.

A split head, that's what.

So he sidestepped to his left, as sharpened diamond met steel. On the ground.

**VWVWVWVWV**

I couldn't believe my luck. How'd he sidestep it at the last moment with a dagger in his stomach?

Not that it mattered. With a growl, I skipped back, but threw up my legs and twisted to my right- and then slashed my left foot outwards.

The tip of my toe hit the embedded dagger squarely on the hilt driving it half the way through- At least it was better than a quarter of the blade through. As my intended target bent over in obvious pain and distress, Botta took a swipe at me- But no, he _missed _as my twisting backflip carried me out his reach.

A heavy landing, and then I checked where I was.

I almost choked as I saw Lloyd rush to Yuan in an attempt to chop him to pieces.

I exploded.

"THAT BASTARD IS _**MINE**_!" I roared, shoulder ramming him about ten feet across the floor.

A silence.

_YOU IDIOT!_

So I stood there and punched myself in the right side of my head. And in case no one knows what's on my right hand, and here's the answer- A great big piece of hardened metal that seriously hurt if you were on the receiving end of a right hook.

The metal rang slightly, but that was more than enough sound to echo through the empty, wet walls of the hangar bay. And it hurt.

"CAN I HEAR A LITTLE LIFE IN HERE??"

Not a sound. Maybe what I did made it worse.

So I turned, fled, whatever, you called it to a Rheaird that was, as it happened to be, just floating there.

But not before I picked up one dagger on the ground running by Yuan and smashing the bastard across the face with my left fist- That, catching him square on the temple, knocked him out cold. I had no time to extract the second one out of his stomach, though.

As old pilot instincts came to life, three second later and before I'd even put my hands properly to steer, I'd blasted off.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Botta was stunned, just like anyone else in the hangar.

Why in the world had that guy smashed into his own comrade, punched himself in the side of the head in an earthshaking blow and still be standing, and then run off?

There was no end in today's strangeness, but Yuan was now out cold, and unfortunately, it appeared that everybody else he faced was fresh. One against somewhere about eight was _not _a happy fight.

Thankfully, a burst of pounding from the door interrupted whatever depressing thoughts that came to mind.

"Lord Yuan! Lord Botta!" Renegades yelled. "Are you alright!? We were stopped by some guy in brown who blew the elevators-"

"Kendal did his work well," the one with shackles commented.

_Kendal? Is that his name? _Botta wondered.

"Damn!" The voices behind the door yelled. "What's up with the door…!?"

"They must have programmed it closed!"

"To hell with the programming! Smash it down!"

Bodies started beating the door, which most likely wouldn't hold another fifteen seconds. Botta breathed a sigh of relief- Only fifteen seconds-

"C'mon!" Genis yelled. "Let's grab the Rheairds before we get killed!" Running towards another one, which had rising up in the absence of the one Kendal had nicked, he hopped in, wobbled slightly, and then blasted off- It should be worth noting that he was now remembering the rudimentary lessons of flying that Sheena had hastily taught back in the Sylvarant Base.

The others all followed suit, though flying was rather… _difficult _for Regal- The shackles, no duh.

As Botta watched each of them leave, blazing colored trails of exhaust from their ends…

**VWVWVWVWV**

"Crap," I grumbled.

The Rheaird's fuel tank, which had been full since I'd left the base, was now half empty, a mere twenty seconds after I'd left base. That sucked- My first flights lasted far longer than this would- About twenty minutes.

Then again, back then there was no Tethe'Alla in its current state, in mana loss but not completely in a state of decline, as in stagnant.

I was halfway to Flanior at this point, but I wasn't going to try braving the rest of the way on foot. Mentally, I started channeling mana into the Rheaird engine as I angled it low for a landing a mile away from the city-

It worked. The fuel meter went _ping _as the arrow smacked the edge of the gauge, as in the end for full.

Though I blinked from a burst of fatigue, I managed a quick smile as I went for a dive…

**VWVWVWVWV**

It wasn't long before Sheena saw the empty fuel meter- Well, half-empty.

"Let's land, or we'll crash!" She yelled, the words barely making any sound over the rushing wind.

"What?!" Lloyd yelled back. "Just like in the mountains…!?"

"But where do we land!?" Zelos shouted, over the wind.

"Let's double back! Go to Flanior!"

"What's Flanior-!?"

"Don't ask! Follow me and Zelos!"

And with that, the group went over the base yet again. Although they were certain that some Renegades would attempt to pursue, nothing came out of the base- Land or ground.


	54. Buzzbuzz

Kendal: DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN YOOOOOUUUUU!!111!!11!!1!

Me: PROFANITY IS NOT ALLOWED! (mauls)

Kendal: OW OW OW OW OW OW!!

Me: So what's the ruckus?

Kendal: WHY ARE YOU SO CRUEL TO ME! I THOUGHT-

Me: STOP EXCLAIMING SO MUCH! NOW YOU HAVE ME DOING IT, YOU SH!#, NOW STOP! So, whadja think?

Kendal: I THOUGHT YOU WERE- Oh yeah, I forgot. I- Thought- You- Were- Trying- To-

Me: SHUT UP! YOU'RE HOLDING UP THE CHAPTER! SAVE IT FOR LATER!

Everyone: (groans) And then we get beaten up faster…

Genis: Screamingedge owns nothing of Namco, nor Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

If there was anything I wanted to do now, it was to not have met them.

Why?

It was turning out to be exactly what happened to me all those years ago- All beginning because I was a runt, the weakest, maybe the smartest of all Damasci.

And then I became the fastest. The strongest (In a mutated, altered sort of way). The one who would always win.

Why? Because I'd see everything coming right before they actually came. A sort of humanoid/weird-ness version of weather prediction machines (That only was only had in Tethe'Alla at the present time), that this time didn't see weather. No, it saw fists, fireballs, and flailing feet coming at my face in an attempt to beat me into a pulp.

Which never actually _happened_ unless you counted the one time I dropped from exhaustion that I didn't even know was there. Moving on.

**VWVWVWVWV**

_As the image solidified, I drew back, very much scared. What the hell was this? _

_And then, I fell over. Had I just said a swear word like it was part of normal, conversational language?_

_As I got up again, shaking, I saw gold eyes. My eyes. Except…_

_These were cold, as hard a steel. Just like how I wished desperately for my own to be. Was this all a session of imagination? For now, it seemed disturbingly likely. _

"_Are you calling __**me**__ a figment of your imagination? Hold on- __**Our **__imagination?" _

"_Our!?" I yelped, scrambling away from the ghostly figure. _

_A sigh, laced with amusement and cruel sarcasm. And then, when the figure was not yet fully formed, it buzzed out of existence. No, not disappeared- It sort of became a double image, before vanishing. _

"_Boo." _

_Slowly turning around, I saw the… __**thing**__ right there. And immediately, I screamed. Scrambling away in the opposite direction, I fell over myself, crashing on my back. As I struggled to get back, I heard yet another sigh of the same kind. _

_And then suddenly I was back on my feet, as if I had been pushed by something that was too fast to see- _

_Wait, a second, that was exactly what happened. A hand had pushed me… A hand that seemed to be half not there, mainly because it was buzzing so much…_

_The thing, now fully formed, stood a mere five feet away from me… And I suddenly knew what I was seeing. Me. _

_About ten years older, mind-wise, with the dead cold steel in the eyes, and about twice as powerful/skilled, just from the looks.  
_

**VWVWVWVWV**

A knock on the door.

I hopped out of bed, my hand already reaching for the familiar hilt of my large, overly deadly cleaver, when I remembered. I wasn't captured. This wasn't camp with the others. No, this was in inn room. The Olive Village, to be exact. In Flanior.

I'd scaled the walls around the Winter City, noticed an open window that a hapless occupant had left open, and jumped inside from the position I held on the top of the wall. To my insanely amazing luck, I entered just as the room's former renter was leaving, bags and all- As I blasted into the room, a gust of snow blasted in, blinding the guy who had his back to me since he was beginning to open the door.

After a quick knuckle to the back of the neck and knocking him out cold, I then began pondered my next course of actions- Should I kill, or not kill?

It turned out to be not kill. Lloyd really had rubbed off on me- I'd seen him spare some random human bandits who had the severe misfortune to attempt to rob us. I killed everyone in my way, no regrets- He, however, was horrified by my apparent lack of empathy, as he only attacked to disarm, not kill.

So, I rolled the guy to the window, hopped down, then, as he woke up, I shoved him into the snow just on the doorstep of the Four Seasons, bags and all, and quickly scaled the city walls, and back into the window.

I shut it, and then I plopped to bed.

And now, here I was, headband off. If there was one thing I didn't want people seeing, it the scar, half burn and half rending of flesh, on my forehead. It was not only nasty, but it was repugnant enough to be possibly vomit inducing, as the charred edges were nothing but blights to the skin.

And, oh, the center of the scar was yellow, as pus apparently had leaked out and then solidified along with the blood. It wasn't just any shade of yellow- It was a blotchy, faded yellow that made you think of puke.

So yeah. Moving on. As I quickly wrapped my headband back around, the knocking intensified, until a voice, a rather gruff, male one, suddenly said in an irritated voice, "God damn, stop knocking!"

A female voice, apparently who had been knocking: "And why should I!"

"The guy in there already checked out! Why else!?"

As the conversation spiraled into the realm known only to people as boredom, I sighed, and relaxed. Besides, the heated conversation (Which now was going into personal matters, which I had no desire to listen to) was beginning to move away, so what was the rush?

Bad move. Really, really bad move. The moment I stepped back, a floorboard creaked under my foot. Time stopped.

But it was quickly second, because before I even had a chance to turn around and fly away, a sudden crash exploded somewhere else in the outside hall.

"GODDAMMIT! THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD HAVE NEVER HIRED YOU!"

Apparently, some sort of vase was busted…

I never knew just how much two humans could make a ruckus loud enough to make my rants look paltry in comparison.

**VWVWVWVWV**

A night in the wilderness that surrounded Flanior was nothing to easily be spoken of. For one thing, there were the blizzards.

Ohhh, yes, the blizzards, like Genis happened to discover once they had landed. He liked the cold, since it didn't make him sweat, obviously, like the summertime.

But here?

It was pure heaven, since Genis liked the cold even with short pants, even if he was a little man. Until the blizzards. That night, a blizzard hit, hard enough to make sleeping uncomfortable, to say the least.

And besides, the snow was cold but tolerable- The blizzard, with the wind chill, was impossible.

So Genis was forced to settle down for the night, being huddled in the sleeping bag that Regal had somehow managed to store in a spare wing pack. And when Genis was in bed, he thought before he got to sleep.

In this case, he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow- For Genis, this was quite unusual, given the fact he was so alert most of the time and therefore often didn't fall asleep until a good thirty minutes later.

But then again, noting that the day had been so demanding, physically, mentally, and emotionally, it wasn't hard to see why.

As Genis fell into the abyss know as sleep, he saw… things.

_A shrouded, silhouetted man in a dimming sky walked away from where Genis stood. Somehow, without knowing who he was, Genis was shouting at him to come back, as some sort of tail flared behind. _

_He looked behind, but stopped turning his head a quarter way and said something that was lost, as it was of a ghostly quality- Impossible to figure out. But then... _

_Wings of a giant phoenix suddenly flared out, as it traced itself against the night sky, the shimmering gold, red, and orange colors making themselves slash a shape through the dark, barely lit skies. _

_And then, as it began to fade, with one more cry, the man turned around, his eyes gleaming in a hue that seemed to be one with the phoenix- _

**VWVWVWVWV**

The next morning, Genis didn't even remember the dream. But did it matter? The thing was, the group now had a few mild cases of frostbite that had popped up in the night. On who? To name them- Zelos, Regal, and most surprisingly of all, Sheena.

"Wh-what!?" She stuttered, half out of chattering teeth, but also half out of shock when Genis told her that he was wearing shorts and a shirt- Definitely not tights and a padded kimono as Sheena was.

Which meant that a little kid was better adapted at weather than a grown woman- Embarrassing. Quite.

As soon as they were done, it suddenly became obvious that the skies of eastern Tethe'Alla was now the objective- What could lie there?

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked as they finished breakfast, extinguished the fire, and got out the Wing Packs.

Nodding, but stiff-faced, Sheena began:

"I summon the Hammer of Godly Thunder, the embodiment of lightning- Come-"

Lightning suddenly exploded from the sky as the clouds thrashed through the air-

"Volt!"

And then, in the epicenter of the mass of the clouds above them, a bulge suddenly formed as its insides splashed with light that was visible even from the outside.

And then it parted revealing a large ball of electricity with piercing red eyes and a rudimentary physical frame inside. A.K.A., Volt. Even more formal than that, a rather large explosion of sound made everyone cover their ears as it decended.

A burst of buzzing that Raine picked up. "He asks, 'what is his labor for his summoner?'"

Sheena actually turned around and screeched. "HIS LABOR? I'M NO SLAVE DRIVER!"

"Those are his exact words," Raine said, barely choking back a chuckle.

"THEN TELL HIM THAT HE'D BETTER BE QUITE ABOUT HIS LABOR AND JUST SAY 'WHAT IS IT!'"

"You just did," Raine said weakly, her sides heaving from the attempt to control otherwise rampant laughter.

"I DON'T SPEAK BUZZ-BUZZ OR WHAT THE DAMN HELL VOLT SPEAKS! YOU TELL HIM!"

An amused, crackly, but otherwise perfectly understandable "_I speak buzz-buzz?_"

**VWVWVWVWV**

Browsing the wares of Hailstorm, the weapon/armor shop of Flanoir, was more like fighting your way through a real hailstorm. With monsters on the loose, and a coincidental upsurge in bandits taking advantage of helpless travelers, armor and weapons were now in incredibly high demand.

Which meant that the place was freakin' crowded to the max- Even the door was open, to accommodate both the people coming out and the ones coming in, who happened to outnumber the former three to one.

As I fought my way to a clerk, intending to ask for a second shoulder guard in addition to the one on my left shoulder, which had been rendered near-useless previously, I heard something, even over the bustle of the shop.

Thunder. Normally, I'd ignore it. But why in the world did thunder hit when there was no thunderstorm that had been forming this morning, or last night?

And then the answer hit me.

_Them. _

Knowing full well that attempting to force my way out the door was something bordering onto useless and that I had left my cleaver at the room in the inn (Besides, was now the time to make another very violent appearance? It was getting tiring to hide from the bounty hunters). So, what's another way in…

Or out?

A window. As I observed it, the skylight on the room groaned as a squall of air hit it. But I'd rather not risk slamming it through, and bombing the frame to make it drop was no option, since I was trapped under it in a cage of jostling human bodies.

The back door then. I slipped behind the counter, keeping myself low to avoid being seen by would-be customers. There was absolutely no way in heaven of hell that the clerks could see me- They were so busy taking orders, showing samples, and racking up sales that the poor souls wouldn't have done more than say more than "Hi" and run off to tend some other bargain deal, no doubt.

**VWVWVWVWV**

As the group stared at Volt in total shock, another chuckle eminated from the floating ball of electricity in front of them. "_This is not my native tongue- It tires me quickly to to use this clumsy language. But I can manage- Once._"

Which meant they'd better learn the most from Volt while they could. "Um, okay," Sheena said, slightly trembling, "But what's the language you speak?"

"_It is a form of ancient Elvish that only we, the ancient ones, speak._"

Genis turned to Raine, startled. "So that's why you were able to-!"

"Yes," she said distractedly.

But her mind was somewhere else. For example, let's just say a previous defector.

Why had he been able to understand Volt? She knew that Volt spoke Ancient Elvish long before anyone had told them so. She'd seen his eyes when he realized Volt's intention, and he'd been able to realize that Volt's Indignation spell was about to be released upon her brother the same instant as her.

That meant one thing- Kendal Seychell was someone that knew both the language of the ancients and Kratos Aurion. Therefore, he had to be related to Cruxis somehow, which was a solid suspicion given his adverse reaction to the mere sight of Yuan.

Who was he? There was no time to find out, however. As Volt charged the Rheairds, the thought of finally saving Colette jumped into Raine Sage's mind. This was much more important than grieving about the departure of a friend/anti-friend ally, a powerful one at that, and wondering who he was.


	55. Dragons vs 8 and Sliver vs 1

Chapter Fifty-five- Two simultaneous fights at once!!111!!1! W00T!

Kendal: WHAT! So they get beat up, and so do I…?

Me: Well, you won't get as beat up as bad as them… But the rest will all get beaten up in someway…

Kendal: So it means I'm going to be a one-man army here. (cries)

Other good guys: WHAT! HE'S DOING IT ALONE?? CRUELTY! (everyone pulls out a phone and calls a lawyer)

Me: OH NOW YOU WANT ME TO BREAK IT TO YOU??

Other GG: What? What's supposed to be secret?

Me: YOU PEOPLE EACH GET BEATEN UP AS MUCH A KENDAL!

Kendal: And how much would that be…?

Me: (lists) Okay, one big fat gash to the- HEY! SHUT UP AND DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO, OR I'LL MAKE THE PUNISHMENT TWICE AS WORSE AS WHAT YOU PEOPLE GONNA GET! **WITH **THE STUFF HERE!

Everyone: (sulk)

Kendal: (sweatdrop) Uhh… my creator doesn't own anything save me and the actions of the other… imbeciles in this fanfic. Thank you very much.

Other GG: DID YOU JUST CALL US IMBECILES??

Kendal: (quick exit)

Lloyd: Wait, what's an imbecile?

* * *

_As I stared at the pseudo-me, the replica raised an eyebrow. "Did you just call me a 'pseudo-you'?"_

_I staggered back. "You mean, you __**are**__ me!?" _

"_No durrrr. Why else do I hear what you're saying?" _

"_Um," I said, stumbling over me words, "Okay." _

"_You know this is all in your head, right?" _

"_I had my… suspicions," I replied carefully. _

"_Don't lie to me. I know what you were thinking the moment you woke up in here. Remember I'm you, twit." _

"_Okay, point taken. But…" Searching for my words, I looked around, then spoke. "Why do you exist? And why are you even here? Why am __**I**__ here?" _

"_Simple." And slowly, on the face of my replica, an evil grin began to emerge, a chilling evil grin that invited the chills in anyone- But one that I was dying to have. _

"_The reason you're here is the reason I exist. You know the near-death adaptation that all Damasci get whenever they are brought back from death's door?"_

"_Yeah, but…" I turned around, looking at the pitch-black darkness around me. "What does that have to do with-"_

_Suddenly, it all fit. _

_A smile on the manifestation of my own rage, of my own anger in front of me, and I knew I was right. _

**VWVWVWVWV**

Having retrieved all equipment and miscellaneous from my "rented" room, I then proceeded to start running like crazy.

Usually, when I run, I just run like any other guy, albeit with an obviously large increase in speed. But when I want speed, as in going to something close to sound without having to get Ghostly and all, I bend down, keep my head low, and keep my body in front of my legs- Therefore, I provide myself with an instinctive advantage as the only way to save me from a nasty nosebleed is to pump the muscle.

My arms still pump like pistons, but when turning is required, I only stiffen them and then guide myself around whatever obstacle that fate had chosen to sit in my path by swaying my torso to whatever side I'd chosen for avoidance.

As Flanior faded behind me, I saw that the lightning "storm" in the distance was fading- Which meant that this was no natural occurrence. Sure, it was possible for lightning and blizzards to mix, but no storm lasted so short anywhere.

So didn't it mean that someone had deliberately set off a lightning storm? It didn't seem like it- Even Genis didn't have the skills yet to do such a spell. Indignation was one thing- A full blown lightning storm, on the other hand, was totally impossible for even me.

But what if it wasn't some_one_, but some_thing_?

_Volt_.

"Well, then," I mutter to myself, something I did constantly, "they're here. Maybe something of an apology might come out of me…"

**VWVWVWVWV**

As Sheena directed Volt to charge up the Rheairds to the max and keep it that way until they arrived at their destination, Raine paced around, trying to figure out what- Or who- Kendal was. She only had two clues- One, Yuan was a sticking point. Two, he was, to say the least, talented with pretty much everything Cruxis/Renegade related.

In other words, he had to have some sort of connection to Cruxis and therefore Yuan. Everything came down to Cruxis.

They could find him later. For now, rescuing Colette was the only thing to do.

**VWVWVWVWV**

The lightning storm was moving away, which meant that Volt was moving as well, or a freak wind from the north was pushing the "storm" at an impossible speed.

_Damn, _I thought, _Gotta… go faster! _

Easier said than done. I was already doing top speed, to the point where I was now seeing the world as a blur with no shapes at all recognizable. I had no intention of popping out my Rheaird, since it took time for it to start up- To say the least, it would crash against the ground at the speed I was going. And then it would be totally wrecked, and I'd be stranded on this lonely, snow covered island continent.

Twenty miles, and my lungs were scorched. I stopped, to catch my breath, but also in resignation that if I tried to follow them, I'd have to pump in my own mana to keep the Rheaird's engine functioning and that would totally screw up my pineapple gel supply. I'd run out before I could even think about catching up to them.

So, what to do but to painstakingly make a journey across Tethe'Alla, with short bursts of flying in hopes of seeing those guys again? Well, it didn't seem to bad of a possibility. Once they saved Colette, I was guessing that then they'd move on to the temples.

Camping. Bah.

"Why not," I groaned, wanting to throw myself in the snow and weep, and stood up, beginning to walk south towards Altamira.

I hadn't gone for more than twenty minutes, with my breath returned to me, when I noticed the rumbling.

T first, I thought it must have been a burst of thunder from the storm that appeared to always accompany Volt, but when I thought about it, Rheairds traveled far too fast for any thunder to reach me here. Besides, they had to be some thirty miles away- Rumbling shouldn't have been that obvious if thunder was produced over there…

And why in the world was it coming from under my feet, growing in intensity by the second?

The answer, genius?- It _was _from under ground.

Diving to the side, I barely managed to avoid the gaping jaws of a gray-colored worm about fifty thousand times as heavy as my hundred and fifty pounds, a hundred times as long as I was (5'11"), and about thirty times my waist length.

As I got up, the two lines of tiny eyes on its opposite sides turned on me, and now I really knew what I was facing. A Sliver.

**VWVWVWVWV**

An hour and a half later, as the Rheairds cruised at an incredible speed southwards, Lloyd saw it.

It only appeared to be a cloud- But clouds weren't mostly vertical. And besides, it was only noon- Why then, did this "cloud" have markings of orange all over it, colors that only appeared in sunsets?

As they steered closer to this curiosity in the sky, Raine noticed a strange formation of rocks underneath them, on an archipelago that stretched north of what appeared to be city of bright colors. As she wondered what the rocks could be, Lloyd's triumphant cry rang through the air, even over the howling wind-

"I've found you!"

Quickly steering low, he then sent his Rheaird back into his own Wing Pack, and then dropped onto the surface of the floating "island" in the sky.

As everyone followed, Lloyd ran over to the trapped form of Colette, who, seeing her would-be rescuers, cried "Everyone, run! It's a trap!"

"What?" Lloyd asked, bewildered. Instantly, however…

The reason for that little exclamation became instantly obvious, as a slightly transparent image of Rodyle warped into existence to Colette's side, quite a distance away.

As Rodyle cackled, Presea rushed him. "I'll make you pay for using me! Now Let Colette go!" Drawing her axe, she cried "Punishment!"

As she whirled around in a circle, the image of Rodyle bent in the air whipped up by her whirling axe- But it only disappeared, only to reappear to the side. Doing his now-trademark creepy cackle, he started to talk in a legible manner- Finally.

"You can have that worthless Chosen," Rodyle said with a childish glee. "I can see why Lord Yggdrasil abandoned her now! She's such a let-down," his last two words dripping with mock sympathy. "She can't save her world, and she can't save her friends from _certain death!_"

As he spoke, three dragons, one of them, very, very large, flew from behind, their presence indicated by a roar from the very large one.

In this case, it was a proportionally very loud roar. As everyone covered their ears, Rodyle cackled once again-which was starting to sound very disturbing to Genis- "I leave it to my precious pets to rid the world of you! Good day!" And with one final cackle, he disappeared.

As the dragons approached, Genis snapped out of his state of having his ears covered (He had to, otherwise he'd snap and attempt to smash another person who-even-tried-cackling's head off with his trusty kendama- He was that tired of the sound) and started casting Air Thrust.

Before the dragons were even a hundred meters from the edge of the platform, Presea suddenly went robo and intoned "Winged dragon- Subspecies of dragon. Chance of evasion on this small platform- Three percent."

"If we can't dodge'em, let's kill'em!" Lloyd whooped, drawing his swords.

"No, Lloyd-" Colette began fearfully-

This time, Regal turned right to Colette and spoke. "We have little chance of running away- We shall then fight. I, besides, have no intention of being a dish in this botched feast for beasts like these."

By then, the beasts in question were only fifty meters away, when Genis cried "Come get some! Air Thrust!"

A sphere of slashing winds sudden appeared right in front of a smaller one. As the dragon flew right into it, the winds viciously sliced every part of it, totally ignoring the enraged cries coming from their victim.

As one plummeted to the ocean, the other one flew in, landing on the edge. As Lloyd launched a Demon Fang at it, the dragon quickly its wings, creating a mini-cyclone that dispersed the burst.

Not that it would get off so easily. A Serpent Seal Pinion, flying with its path unchanged through the wind, smacked it square on the chest with quite a bit of force backing it up. Although the dragon quickly jumped back, its movements were now noticeably sluggish, meaning that the Serpent Seal was now extending its influence over the beast.

Finally, the big dragon arrived…

And promptly disappeared under the "island" that everyone was standing on.

Everyone looked at each other, shrugged, and turned back to the lone, far smaller dragon-

Which had flown upwards, just circling.

A rumbling that caused everyone to stagger. And then again, which caused everyone to fall down.

That's when the cracking started. As a rather interesting pattern of cracks appeared at Genis's foot, he started at it, bewildered. Why did it seem so familiar…?

"Genis!" Raine shouted. "Get away!"

The terror in his sister's voice made him snap out of his reprieve and run for what possibly be safety away from the web of fissures that now was glowing.

And yes. Genis's thought was right. There really was safety far, far away from any breaks in the ground. But he wasn't going to know that yet.

As his foot lifted off the edge of the area of cracks, a sudden jet of hot-air striking his ankle made him yelp and clear the edge by five feet- The longest jump that Genis had ever made.

It was lucky he'd been on the edge- If he had been anywhere farther, then he would have had a lovely collection of bruises from the jets of rock that were blasting skyward. Although no one was hit, the rumbling enough was enough to force the others to take the their heels off the ground and stand on their toes- They simply couldn't take it flat-footed.

_A nest. _That's what Genis was realizing as he observed the now dormant fissures recede into the ground. This floating island in the sky was really a floating nest. Only Genis had noticed a network of holes underneath the flat edge of the top- Now, knowing that the really, really big dragon was still in the tunnels, Genis directed his mana into the earth-

"Eruption!"

As magma began to bubble through the ground, expanding as it continually absorbed new rock, Genis directed it into the ground. He wasn't trying to make the place fall apart- No spellcaster or human could do that.

He was hunting, the magma being his fingers, as he tried to find the gigantic beast before it could cause another "Nest Crack".

Finally, he found it. Feeling a sudden obstruction that far different from the slow-to-give way rock, he directed every pound, every gram of molten rock he could find.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Genis was sure as hell right about the basics of the so-called "Nest Crack." First, any dragon that size would go into the holes within the next, and then slam a certain spot until it was sufficiently weakened, enough for flames to burrow through.

The resulting burst of flame would go deep inside to a layer of rock mixed with liquids floating freely, causing the boiling effect of stone and hot air to blast out of the other end of the nest- A.K.A. the surface. This was almost completely like a Ground Dasher spell, save for the fact that dragons to not cast spells and they certainly don't pray to the gods for the power of the earth. They have no gods, and certainly these mutated ones didn't, having their minds twisted to follow Rodyle's every order.

As the hulking figure of the dragon came from under the edge of the topmost platform, another figure joined it- The soaking wet shape of the other mini-dragon, wet, pissed off, and unfortunately alive. Somehow managing to get it's wings out before it completely hit water and only barely managing to skim the surface of the ocean below (Hence its wetness), was now looking for someone to blame it on.

Unfortunately for Zelos, it was him. Suddenly, he found a fireball speeding his way, which was only deflected thanks to a panicked swipe of his sword. Well, the wrong sword actually. The thing was, he'd pulled out an old Aqua Edge and slashed it wildly though the air, causing the fireball to bend away, the water on the sword sizzling away before returning to its normal wetness.

Remembering what he was supposed to do, he quickly made a motion to cast off the Aqua Edge, since it certainly wasn't as sharp as a Flametongue blade that he now normally used, but then he thought of something. Something, to say the least, something shocking.

Replacing the Flametongue, he quickly ran up to one of the small dragons that were skirmishing with the others (To be precise, Sheena, Regal, and Raine, who currently had no serious wounds to tend to), and yelled "Lightning Blade!"

Thanks to the fact that his Aqua Edge was covered with water all the time and therefore was a conductor of electricity, the water amplified the effect of the lightning to the point where it was possible to literally _see _the voltage run through the purple-black body of the beast Zelos was now facing. As it stiffened, roaring, Zelos took the opportunity to yell "Light Spear Cannon!"

As he spun in a short shop, lifting the mini-dragon (At least when compared to its far bigger relation that was currently making its way out of the nest) upwards, he then started spinning the sword in place.

The Aqua Edge, still charged with electricity, wreaked delightful havoc as the beast fell heavily, twitching from both the voltage going through it AND the new foot-deep hole in its side.

Zelos, always the opportunist, started crowing his latest achievement, going "No one is smarter or sexier than the great Zelos-!"

He never got to finish. The next moment, Sheena slugged him in the mouth, sending him to his bottom howling with pain.

**VWVWVWVWV**

Slivers were rare as freakin' heck in Tethe'Alla. Giant worms that spent their days under ice earths mainly in the Flanior area (Since mountaintops are made out of stone- Far too hard for a Sliver to burrow through), they usually kept to themselves under the earth, only rising in remote places to eat whatever was either unlucky (Or stupid) enough to fall into their traps.

Or in other words, their tunnels, sometimes half a mile deep.

With fangs as sharp as fine steel (Which only well known gladiators or "heroes" like Zelos used, for anything like that or above was too expensive for the everyman), anyone in the jaws of a Sliver was automatically dead meat. Nasty. Also heavy, as in very, very heavy, all a Sliver had to do was slither over you (No pun intended) and you're dead as well. But that was it- Slivers were strictly non-magical, so that helped.

Through all my years, I'd only fought a Sliver six times, with half of them being that they turned heel and ran (Well, more like slithered) away, despite my furious bombardment of insults I rained upon them. They were that rare- In recent memory, slivers were only sighted some once ever five years.

But now, with the mana situation this disgraceful in Tethe'Alla, it looked like it might be one Sliver every three months. Wonderful.

The Sliver I was now facing started diving into the earth in front of me- So, if I wasn't careful, I might end up square in the middle of the gaping jaws of this monstrosity. And then a thousand years of living goes with it. So I stood there.

I felt the rumblings, but I kept my stance, knowing if I ran behind, I might die for that impulse. As they increased, I sensed I wasn't standing on the epicenter of where they were coming from. I stayed put some more, slowly pulling out my cleaver…

* * *

CLIFFHANGEEERRRR!!

Kendal: Riiight. Lemme guess, you're joking and I'm gonna get eaten.

Me: (bops on side of head) Don't you ever doubt me.

Kendal: ABUSE! ABUSE!


	56. Turn for the worse

It's been a long time since I updated, so if anyone out there is waiting, then here's the next installment in Grudges

It's been a long time since I updated, so if anyone out there is waiting, then here's the next installment in Grudges!

Kendal: Technically, that's bad for us- We get to be abused more. NAO.

Me: Is this something that will make me do what I think I'll do?

Sheena: WHY WHY WHY WHY ARE YOU CONTINUEING WHY WHY WHY-

Me: BINGO! (mauls)

Everyone: (Super heavy bruising) Damn, back to the old days…

Kendal: This violent dude doesn't own Namco or anything close. (falls)

* * *

_Crrrrrnsk_.

The Sliver, faster than I thought possible, ripped out of the earth, sending rock, ice, and snow everywhere, in which here everywhere means everywhere and everywhere includes me.

As I was knocked over my head with a piece of ice, snow showered me as the multiple eyes of the Sliver searched for that tasty morsel it had missed. To be sure, I was lucky Slivers had terrible eyesight- Being completely buried in snow, like I was, was being draped in hyper-effective camouflage- when factoring in the eyes of a Sliver, that is. Even a human eye could have discerned the rather oddly shaped (Human shaped, that is) pile of snow I was under, which meant my cover would be well and truly blown. Sure, in actuality, a corner of my scarf sticking out- Both, really, but it was nothing to notice in eyes as bad as a Slivers'.

And it helped I was temporarily knocked out, since I wouldn't have gotten all claustrophobic (Which I've never admitted to anyone about it) and jumped right out of the snow, screaming. But I wasn't going to, so the Sliver, taking its time, burrowed in the earth again.

A minute later, and I opened my eyes- To find whiteness all around me.

I screamed.

Thank god I screamed in the wilderness surrounding Flanior, since no one was going to hear me- No one with clothes on, that is. As I sprang out of the snow like a human-sized rocket, I thrashed my limbs, body, everything, doing in other words a voodoo dance- With screaming.

Bad move.

Deep beneath the earth, the Sliver, sensing that something was moving- And screaming- began to move towards the surface, right beneath its intended victim. After all, if they have eyesight worth of completely missing prey when it's buried under one inch of snow that has two corners of a brown scarf- A _brown _scarf against white snow sticking out, then to make up for it they utilize their ears, letting them hear noises through solid rock and ice, considering where they lived in Tethe'Alla.

As I began to calm down, the rumbling began again, and through all of my hyperventilation I realized the Sliver was somewhere, and if I didn't move I would die a gruesome death among hundreds of razor sharp teeth. And I hadn't even gotten Yuan anything close to death yet.

Diving to the side, I narrowly missed getting my leg sheared off as the gaping hole of a mouth rose up at unreal speeds. But this time, I wasn't going to just dodge- I flipped in mid-air, landing like a cat that's only got one more life to go, and jammed my cleaver half the way up the hilt in one of the Sliver's blue eyes.

A roar of fury, and it flailed its body towards my direction in an attempt to crush me. As I sidestepped that, however, my cleaver was slammed into the ground hilt-first- And so was driven all the way in, right up the hilt.

The Sliver roared again, this time in pure agony, even when it had no one to blame but itself in deepening the stab wound. As it flailed its body wildly, in an attempt to dislodge the source of pain in its eye, I rushed at it.

In reality, _past _it. As it flailed the opposite way to where I was, right by its side, therefore exposing the cleaver hilt sticking out like a sore thumb in the skin, I ripped it out and then hit the ground covering my ears.

Perfect move, because the next moment the Sliver gave a roar so loud it was heard all the way in Flanior. No wonder, because when something stabs you, it sure hurts- But when anyone rips it out, it hurts twice as much. I knew this from experience from my numerous stab wounds from claws, stingers (These hurt especially), blades, arrows, the whole nine yards.

Because it was so loud, and I was right next to the Sliver, the roar rattled me to the point where my bones were trembling. I swear, everything felt like it was vibrating- My heart, lungs, stomach, eyes, everything. And when I say eyes, I now couldn't see without seeing blurs.

As I got to my feet shakily, the Sliver dived back into the earth, where it would stay there until it was sure it had a target.

Not that it was going to just stay there on my watch. I was going to flush it out and keep it flushed out of the ground.

Not a spell. A technique.

**VWVWVWVWV**

As the mother dragon flew over the edge of the floating nest in the sky, roaring here fury at whoever had burnt her snout, the two baby ones thrashed, kicked, and blasted fire at the intruders, on occasion attempting to bite them.

As the seven "intruders", or in their minds rescuers slashed, swung, jabbed and blasted the various elements at them, while one "prisoner" watched the battle with terror-struck eyes.

As Lloyd nailed his opponent with a Heavy Tiger Blade, sending it slamming into the earth with a shriek of pain, the second one, noting its downed brother, shot a fireball the nailed the swordsman in the back, sending him reeling.

Sheena, however, stepped into his place, putting a damper on the sight of the offender with a Mirage Seal. As the dragon in front of her rose, she turned and put it down yet again with a quick Pyre Seal.

On instinct, she stopped her assault, expecting a certain _someone _to jump and stab the dragon with a five-foot-plus-nine-inches sword that was a monster seven inches wide, but that was not to be- For the dragon, enraged at being put down a second time, charged her and headbutted the ninja right under her hastily put up guard in the stomach, winding her.

Lloyd, getting up, heard Sheena's grunt, and stabbed the dragon's outstretched wing. Before his victim could do more than screech, he nailed it with a Super Sonic Thrust that sent it into…

The mother dragon's mouth.

None of them had noticed the gigantic head that was now leaning over them all climb over, save Genis. The next moment, as everyone realized they had a behemoth to deal with, Genis launched a Cyclone, which, in addition to snagging up the _second _dragon, royally diced and sliced the big one and by extension the smaller one in its mouth.

As the big one spat the smaller one out of its mouth, the second, more exposed dragon cried out in rage, a grating, piercing sound the made everyone wince.

Bad move.

One moment the big dragon was there. Because they'd all taken away their eyes for a second, all they could deduce was the fact that the next moment it was gone. Where, though?

And was there really time for that question, when the two smaller ones renewed their assault, this time flapping their wings to create cyclones, smaller and less sharp to be sure, but just as effective?

**VWVWVWVWV**

I snapped my fingers, and was satisfied to hear a huge _whumph _as underground a pulse of light, heat, and pure force burst through the tunnels the Sliver had burrowed through.

But there was nothing signifying that I had hit anyone, which meant I had missed. After all, through a solid medium nobody could sense anything living down there, me notwithstanding.

Thirty more times, andno success whatsoever. I could hear minor rumbling sounds underneath my feet, which could be either my explosions causing rockslides under ground, or a sliver slithering its way through the tunnels it had burrowed through and were burrowing through now. My vision was blurring, as i became numbed from my efforts, my energy all devoted to blasting out my current for from out of the underground.

Until finally, after I was about to pop into my mouth a Pineapple Gel, I heard it- A muffled roar an explosive pulse of force, the thirtith-something that I had felt this past minute. The rumbling, I mean.

With an evil grin, I finished chewing the Pineapple Gel, feeling the strength speed through me, and then I stepped back as the Sliver, now sporting one huge bruise and burn mark tried to eat me. As it rose up, I took the opportunity to squeeze in some quick techniques- A Dominating Blade, a followed-up Fury Damnation, and then…

"Wolf Fang PULSE!"

The explosion send me flying backwards- Which was a good thing, since the explosion blasted the Sliver away from me, who then slammed its head back in my direction. But no, I was already too far away to get crushed, and when I saw its gaping mouth at my feet, I had an idea.

I quickly closed my eyes, then snapped my fingers.

Right in its gut. As it roared, right in my direction to knock me right off my feet (It was that loud), bluish goo flowed out of its mouth, splattering the snow.

Roaring again with a vengeance, it dived beneath ground. This time, it wasn't waiting- It had marked the spot where that nuisance had landed after being stunned by its roar, and was now quickly rising up beneath my still-stupefied form, getting ready for the first meat it had tasted in months…

**VWVWVWVWV**

The dragons were all pissed, and it looked like there was no end in sight- Yet.

But that still didn't make up for the fact that this was all unfair. I mean, sure, it was seven against three, but two of the three were twice the size of the seven, and even worse, the was the one who was as tall as twenty men stacked on each other's shoulders.

Totally unfair, really. And it didn't help that the two, err, _smaller_ ones could breath fireballs and make tornados, and the REALLY big one only had to bite one of the seven to end their lives.

But then again, there WERE seven people, one a mage, two healers, and the fact was everyone could work in sync, unlike the dragons, which often wasted valuable time squabbling while Sheena, being so very stealthy, would bury a guardian in their backs. Or anyone else. You get the idea.

And besides, the mother dragon, while oh-so scary and large, couldn't get her full body over the edge of the platform, or else she'd crush the babies- Not a good thought. At least for twisted mind of the big one had a semi-maternal instinct…

And so, both sides fought on. Wounded, bruised, and exhausted? Yes. Willing to give up? Hell no, for different reasons- On one side, instinct ruled, right now over the orders of their master, and instinct told them to eat these humans for dinner. The other side fought for the freedom of an innocent onlooker who was watching the battle with terrified eyes.

As Lloyd slashed at the eyes of the mother, who was shrieking her displeasure and swinging her gigantic head everywhere, he realized that they needed to finish off one of them, or it would never end- Or it would end and they'd get eaten.

_Fine, then, _Lloyd thought grimly. "Everyone, get ready!" Lloyd yelled.

He immediately ran for one of the small ones, as the larger one behind him attempted to bite him- And missed. The moment he was in range, he quickly swatted the dragon with the flat of one Defencer, and quickly preformed a Super Sonic Thrust that conveniently knocked the dragon into Zelos's comfort zone.

A hasty Hurricane Thrust by Zelos, which sent the dragon into Presea's Dual Punishment. Sent back_ again, _the dragon flapped its wings trying, to righten itself and fly out of the danger zone.

It managed to fly, but only three feet off the ground, because then it was slammed by Regal's Swallow Dance. As it thudded into the ground thanks to the final hit, Sheena smacked on a seal to its back…

"Pyre Seal!"

Which promptly exploded in a cloud of cards. Even better, with lots of force and just as lots of violence. Right into…

"Ray!"

"Cyclone!"

As the younger of the Sage siblings raised the intended target into the skies amid the howl of slashing winds, the older sent up a pulse of light magic which promptly started raining down bolts of, err, light. But because Genis had brought the dragon up to the source, it experienced nine bolts of pure light- Which, saying hurts. A lot.

Were they done yet? Hell no. Booth sister and brother raised their weapon of choice and simultaneously shouted "Prism Stars!"

Suddenly, a hail of magically- created stars came out of thin air…

And started slamming into the dragon A LOT of times. Thirty-five times in total, that is. The splash of the "stars" literally blinded everyone, save for the two casters.

When it was over, all that was left of what was supposed to be a snarling, mutated looking dragon were slightly glowing ashes.

Everyone started at the remains, then the Sage siblings, and then back again. Over and over- For good reason, really.

The silence upon the nest in the sky was only broken by the vengeful roar of the mother dragon, who immediately dived beneath the edge of the nest. As the final baby dragon charged the group, shrieking in what could only be outrage, rumbling filled the air…

**VWVWVWVWV**

When I finally came to my senses, guess what.

The rumbling, right beneath me, was now shaking my body so much my vision was going blurry. Again.

But that didn't stop me from instantly forming the conclusion that if I didn't move, I was dead meat, thanks to the gaping hole of a mouth of the Sliver, which was rising underneath me.

I threw myself to the side, thinking I'd dodged the worst of it…

Which was true. But that didn't mean it was a clean dodge because on the very edge of a Sliver's mouth there's around eighteen to thirty spikes, all ringing the mouth, just as sharp as the teeth within. And because of these spikes, I was impaled in the side- thankfully missing my lung and kidney- all the way through.

I yelled. That was all I could do, yell. It hurt like living _hell_, sending a shockwave of pain that sent every neuron, every synapse screeching. I somehow managed to get myself off the spike, or else I would have been dealing with an entire rip in my side, two inches wide, given that the Sliver, after coming up, it came down.

But now, I was under the coil of the Sliver's body as it dived underground again, its rapidly retreating head underground to my left, the rest of its body coming up on my right. And I knew I wanted my revenge on this thing.

Not bothering to apply a gel, I grimaced as I gripped my cleaver with all the strength that I could spare against keeping my side tense (To restrict blood flow there), and waited for the tail to come up.

A Sliver wasn't _that_ long, for a few seconds, the body started to thin as it went off to my left. I knew, obviously, from having to watch the damn thing coil right above me.

_Bingo. Adios, sucker. _

By the time I saw the tail rise up from the ground, I had jumped up, and slashed down to my left from my right shoulder, the direction of the rest of the Sliver's body. "Grand-"

The tail was up, now above me.

"Dominating-"

The shredding shockwave erupted, ripping off skin from the front of the tail to reveal bluish flesh underneath as I tensed myself.

I wasn't done yet. Here came the finale.

"BLADE!"

I twisted my hand into reverse, as I drew it close to my body, and slashed upwards.

The shockwave, which had at first looked so mundane, was now a colossus of gold, shimmering gold mixed with blood.

Because the wave, now twice as high as me, and also about three times as destructive as a normal one, not including the initial wave, was ripped apart the skin covering the tail- And was now proceeding to rip away at the skin as well.

Deep within the frozen earth, a roar of pain echoed as the tail- Or what was left of it- Finally vanished, leaving splatters of blue blood behind.

Ignoring the throbbing in my side and the warm blood washing over my side, and the idiocy surrounding what I was about to do next, I stomped on the ground, then I retreated three steps. T

Waiting. Just waiting. But while that was going on, I threw my cleaver behind my back, and pushed pure mana, mana, and more mana into the edge.

It didn't take long. Just after I was done preparing my gigantic dose of hurt, the Sliver rose up from the earth, seeking the morsel that had been SUPPOSEDLY stupid enough to make a ruckus on the surface. SUPPOSEDLY a bad move, right?

All intended. I was waiting for it, so it could take a perfect, direct hit. And if I was lucky…

Maybe it could send this thing right out of the earth.

**VWVWVWVWV**

When the rumbling began, only Genis knew what was about to happen.

He quickly scanned the ground for any telltale sign of cracks, because he knew spells, and he knew the look-a-likes of spells as well. Including this one.

He found it. Right below Lloyd, who was busy smashing away at the last visible dragon, who was attempting to find him off (With little success).

"Everyone, get away from where Lloyd's standing on!"

"What!? Why are you saying everyone to get away from ME!?"

"No, not you, the ground BENEATH you!"

Seconds later, the rumbling increased to the point where it could no longer be considered background noise.

"Get away- C'mon, get _away_!"

"Alright, alright!" Lloyd blasted away the dragon that was on him with a Raging Beast, then started running away, if only to appease his best friend.

He was lucky he did, because the next instant, the ground opened up, sending jets of mud, rock, and steam up, all superheated. If Lloyd hadn't moved, then he could have been scorched, bruised, blistered, and muddied. And what it meant by muddied is absolutely ruined his clothes- Not good for a guy who only had one set of clothes in his wardrobe for now. In reality, it wasn't good for ANY of them. Didn't they all only have one set of clothes?

Beneath them, the mother dragon, deciding that at least one of the pesky brats that had killed one of her offspring had been demolished, she flew upwards, to examine whatever chaos she had made.

The moment her head poked over the edge, however, was the moment Genis incased her head in an Air Thrust spell, covering her head with fifty cuts all over.

Before she could do more than roar in rage, Regal, disregarding the three-thousand foot drop beneath him, hopped onto its head, and shouted "Eagle Dive!"

The drop slammed the dragon right on the snout, which conveniently had a cut on it- See where this was going? Before the dragon could shake him off, Regal hit an eye with a very low Spin Kick before one last Crescent Moon.

As he hopped off, the _second _baby dragon (As the first one was nothing but ash) closed in and chomped on the arm. As he struggled to free himself (Which was rather hard with the shackles on, y'know) Presea walked up and knocked it off with an Infliction.

That's right. She. Freakin'. Walked.

As Regal healed his arm with a Healer, Lloyd nailed it with one Omega Tempest, even if it was flying, but that was beside the point- It sent Lloyd high, like really, really high. Perfect for things that flew, really.

As that was taken care of, with the baby dragon squawking its rage but flyingout of harm's way, they heard it. Rumbling.

But this rumbling was twice as loud, and therefore, as Genis correctly deduced, was going to be twice as dangerous.

* * *

I know that it's been yet ANOTHER huge absence. BUT! I'm back, and I pray I will be for the next month!

Kendal: I wish you suffer yet another fit of writer's block-

Me: (mauls)


End file.
